Washington state uni secures $3.6mn grant for direct air capture

A team led by Washington State University has secured a $3.6mn grant from the Department of Energy for funding research into direct air capture (DAC), the university reported on September 8.

The research team is looking into ways of using ionic liquids or liquid salts to extract carbon out of the air, as well as catalytic processes to convert it into valuable chemicals.

Leading the three-year research is Hongfei Lin, professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering. It will bring together researchers from four national laboratories and the University of California, Riverside.

DAC has been gaining interest in recent years as a means of mitigating the effects of climate change.

“A lot of people think it’s not practical, but we have an incredible team,” Lin said. “It’s not going to be solved quickly, but these are world-class scientists who are working to understand the fundamental science. I have very high expectations for this project.”