The technology of the future

Researchers are now working to make a membrane that only allows the passage of CO₂. If they succeed they will be able to remove CO₂ from power stations and factories – and use less energy and less money.

We learned about membranes in biology; the thin film used by cells in all plants and animals for separating nutrients from waste matter. Now researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim are working to produce a super-membrane that separates CO₂ from other gases. Put simply, the membrane acts as a gatekeeper which only allows CO₂ to pass through. This new membrane is shaped as millimetre-thin plastic tubes and the secret is that it also contains amine molecules with which the CO₂ reacts. This enables the CO₂ molecules to jump from amine molecule to amine molecule through the membrane, like Tarzan swinging from vine to vine through the jungle. In this way CO₂ can be captured for storage. So simple – and so difficult, but if the researchers succeed in transferring the good laboratory results to an industrial scale the new super-membrane will be able to cut the costs of CO₂ capture dramatically.