Baking Soda Could Save the World

Not to be confused with a much more star-studded announcement concerning the climate today, a company in the U.S. is attempting to remove carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power plant by creating baking soda.

Simply pumping the CO₂ through a sodium hydroxide solution at the right temperature gives the folks at Skymine a pure, stable, food-grade sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) precipitate. That sodium bicarbonate's carbonates come from the carbon dioxide that we so frequently bemoan as the world's largest contributor to global warming.

The Skymine process, pioneered by Skyonic, is really very simple. The big problem with it, in my eyes, is that sodium hydroxide doesn't just bubble out of the ground anywhere. Actually, that's a really good thing, because that probably wouldn't be very good for the world's water supplies.

A pilot version of the process is already underway. And there is a lot of good news. All of the byproducts in the creation of sodium hydroxide (hydrogen and chlorine) can be sold commercially. And the baking soda (which is currently mined) would fill the world's markets pretty quickly, reducing the need for those mines.

Apparently the system would cost roughly as much as the $400M scrubbers that power plants already have on them...but would scrub both toxics and 80% of their carbon dioxide.

I still don't feel like they could find enough sodium hydroxide in the world to make this possible, but I could be wrong. And I hope I'm wrong, because this could be a fantastic breakthrough.

Via CNet

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written by Amy, December 01, 2007

I hope you're wrong too. I have a very non-green acquaintance who thinks that "they" are going to figure all this bad environmental stuff out and fix it. This would definitely prove her right on one front and I would gladly eat that crow for days.

Plenty of NaOH
written by Alvin, December 01, 2007

Sodium Hydroxide is cheaply manufactured from electrolysis of salt and water. This reaction requires an energy input, so it remains to be seen if the entire process of generating NaOH and converting the CO2 emissions into NaHCO3 would result in a net CO2 reduction. This company's marketing department is probably implying to their customers that the NaOH is generated with no CO2 footprint.

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written by Joel, December 01, 2007

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't baking soda *usually* made from CO2 that has been extracted from the atmosphere? It's not like you would usually burn coal just to run the reaction.

I'm also pretty sure that most baking soda ends up releasing its CO2 as it's used: for example, to fluff up your buttermilk pancakes, or to help neutralize an acid stomach.

it's also good for a sore in your mouth.
written by adam, December 02, 2007

really, ever bit you lip and then it got all sore for several days and took a long time to heal. Just put baking soda on it everytime you can think of it and it'll be gone in a day and make it feel better at the same time.

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written by Kurt, December 04, 2007

Most of the baking soda would not be used, which would release the CO2. It would simply be buried in a standard landfill. A solid is much easier to deal with than a liquid that wants to revert to a gas at standard atmosphere and temperatures.

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written by Rob, December 06, 2007

We could always load up some rockets and sent it into space/the sun...its not like nuke waste that would cause devestation should the rocket fail mid-flight....