Carbon dioxide could be removed from the atmosphere and stored as a solid in a bid to manage climate change, using a new technique pioneered at Australia's RMIT University.
The research team turned CO2 into a coal-like solid, in what could be a potential negative emission technology that actively removes a greenhouse gas from our atmosphere.
To keep climate change at a manageable level, the United Nations considers some kind of carbon dioxide-removal process a necessity.
One of the current most-discussed methods for sucking CO2 from the atmosphere involves storing it as a liquid deep underground, raising concerns about potential leaks.
First safe conversion of CO2 into a solid without high heat
The international team behind the latest research says their method is a safe and permanent alternative. "While more research needs to be done, it's a crucial first step to delivering solid storage of carbon," said RMIT researcher Torben Daeneke.
Although the researchers are not the first to convert carbon dioxide gas into a solid, they are the first to do so without needing an unsustainable level of high heat.

"To date, CO2 has only been converted into a solid at extremely high temperatures, making it industrially unviable," continued Daeneke. "By using liquid metals as a catalyst, we've shown it's possible to turn the gas back into carbon at room temperature, in a process that's efficient and scalable."
The team detailed their electrochemical techniqu...