加拿大科學(xué)家把二氧化碳轉(zhuǎn)化為有用的產(chǎn)物

Carlo Montemagno is seen with a foam bioreactor forcarbon capture in Edmonton on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017.

2017年1月6日星期五，在埃德蒙頓，Carlo Montemagno和碳捕獲的泡沫生物反應(yīng)器在一起。

Dr. Montemagno has engineered a new way tocapture CO2 from industrial-gas emissions.

Montemagno博士已經(jīng)設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)新方法從工業(yè)排放的氣體中進(jìn)行碳捕獲。

What if carbon-dioxide emissions could betransformed from a liability into an asset?

當(dāng)二氧化碳排放量從負(fù)債轉(zhuǎn)化為資產(chǎn)會(huì)怎么樣呢?

That’s the $20-million question behind the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize, a global competition tocreate technology that converts CO2 into valuable products.

這就是加拿大油砂創(chuàng)新聯(lián)盟(COSIA)和NRG能源所設(shè)立的2000萬(wàn)美元的碳清潔技術(shù)獎(jiǎng)(XPrize)所提出的問(wèn)題，這是一項(xiàng)全球性的關(guān)于將二氧化碳轉(zhuǎn)化為有價(jià)值的產(chǎn)物的科技競(jìng)賽。

“In energy and climate, few ideas are as potentially transformative as the idea of turning theeconomics of CO2 and climate change on its head,” said Marcius Extavour, director oftechnical operations for the prize.

本次獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的技術(shù)實(shí)施負(fù)責(zé)人Marcius Extavour表示：“在能源和氣候領(lǐng)域，沒(méi)有什么點(diǎn)子能在變革型的潛力上和轉(zhuǎn)化二氧化碳和改造氣候相提并論。”

Nine Canadian companies are among the 27 teams that have advanced to the semifinals.

有9家加拿大公司所屬的27支隊(duì)伍入圍了半決賽。

Ten finalists will be announced in 2018 and a winner will be revealed in 2020.

2018年將決出進(jìn)入最后決賽的十強(qiáng)隊(duì)伍，冠軍則將于2020年公布。

Here’s a look at some of the Canadian semifinalists.

以下是一些入圍的加拿大隊(duì)伍：

Ingenuity Lab, Edmonton

來(lái)自埃德蒙頓的"心靈手巧實(shí)驗(yàn)室"

Ingenuity Lab director Carlo Montemagno has engineered a new way to capture CO2 fromindustrial-gas emissions. His technology harnesses photosynthesis, the process plants use toconvert carbon dioxide into chemical energy using light.

該實(shí)驗(yàn)室負(fù)責(zé)人Carlo Montemagno已經(jīng)設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)新方法從工業(yè)排放的氣體中進(jìn)行碳捕獲。他的技術(shù)是利用光合作用，通過(guò)使用光照射植物將二氧化碳轉(zhuǎn)化為化學(xué)能。

 

 

The technology mimics the biochemical reactions of photosynthesis in non-living materials togenerate the energy to transform the carbon dioxide into valuable products. It takes theCO2 from flue gas and builds the carbons up into long chains, with the result being that 47different specialty chemicals can be produced.

這項(xiàng)科技模擬了光合作用的在非生活物質(zhì)環(huán)境中的生化反應(yīng)，以產(chǎn)生能量將二氧化碳轉(zhuǎn)化為有價(jià)值的產(chǎn)物。

Dr. Montemagno added that plants require a significant amount of energy to grow, so they’renot very efficient at sequestering carbon to produce value-added chemicals. But in histechnology, no energy has to be spent to keep an organism alive, so all the output can gotoward the products that one wants to create.

Montemagno博士補(bǔ)充道，由于植物需要大量能量才能生長(zhǎng)，這樣它們?cè)谶M(jìn)行碳封存以制造具備附加值的化學(xué)品時(shí)效率就不是很高。但是在他的技術(shù)里，無(wú)需任何能量就可以保證有機(jī)體存活，這樣所有的能量產(chǎn)出就將用于制造目標(biāo)產(chǎn)物。

“This efficiency is game-changing, opening up new opportunities for the sustainable productionof products we all need from waste,” he said in an e-mail.

他在一份Email中表示：“這個(gè)效率是顛覆性的，為我們生產(chǎn)從廢物里回收的所有我們所需的可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品打開(kāi)了新的機(jī)會(huì)之門(mén)。”

Terra CO2 Technologies, Vancouver

來(lái)自溫哥華的“地球二氧化碳科技公司”

Terra CO2 Technologies is developing a technique to transform acid rock drainage andcarbon-dioxide emissions – two damaging byproducts of mining – into a stable substance.

該公司正在開(kāi)發(fā)一項(xiàng)科技以轉(zhuǎn)化礦山酸性排放以及二氧化碳排放量——兩個(gè)由于采礦所帶來(lái)的具有破壞性的副產(chǎn)物——成為一種穩(wěn)定物質(zhì)。

Acid rock drainage refers to the acidic water that results when sulphide minerals are exposedto air and water and produce sulphuric acid, which is harmful to wildlife if it leaks intowaterways. Mining companies must use costly methods to contain the drainage, includingtreating it with lime and storing it in large tailings ponds.

礦山酸性排放指的是含有硫化物的礦物暴露于空氣、水中時(shí)，將產(chǎn)生硫酸，硫酸如果泄露到水體里將成為對(duì)野生動(dòng)物造成危險(xiǎn)的酸性水。礦業(yè)公司必須使用價(jià)格不菲的方法來(lái)控制排放，包括使用石灰來(lái)處理或者將其儲(chǔ)存于大型尾礦池中。

Terra CEO Dylan Jones said the company aims to solve the environmental threat of acid rockdrainage and save mining companies money. Their technology treats the drainage through anelectrochemical process that separates the sulphur from the mineral.

公司負(fù)責(zé)人Dylan Jones表示，公司的目標(biāo)是解決礦山酸性排放所導(dǎo)致的環(huán)境威脅，并節(jié)省礦業(yè)公司的開(kāi)支。它們的技術(shù)將排放物通過(guò)一個(gè)電化學(xué)裝置以將硫化物從礦石中分離出來(lái)。

The company uses a common iron-sulphide mineral called pyrite or “fool’s gold” as an example.It pulls CO2 out of the air and combines with the iron to make an iron carbonate, which isstable in normal atmospheric conditions and doesn’t produce any acid.

公司使用一種常見(jiàn)的硫鐵礦物，即黃鐵礦，亦稱(chēng)“愚人金”作為示范。它將空氣中的二氧化碳抽出，并和鐵結(jié)合生成鐵的碳酸鹽，這個(gè)產(chǎn)物在自然空氣中可以穩(wěn)定存在，而且不再產(chǎn)生任何酸類(lèi)物質(zhì)。

“Our application for the technology is huge for the mining industry,” Mr. Jones said. “We’relooking at it as a cost-saving technology.”

Jones先生表示：”我們的應(yīng)用科技對(duì)于礦業(yè)公司而言意義重大，我們將其視為一項(xiàng)節(jié)省開(kāi)支的技術(shù)。“

Carbicrete, Montreal

來(lái)自蒙特利爾的”碳凝土“

Cement produces a great deal of greenhouse gas emissions – about one tonne of CO2 forevery tonne of cement.

水泥生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)生大量的溫室氣體排放——差不多每生產(chǎn)一噸水泥就會(huì)排放一噸的二氧化碳。

That’s why Carbicrete invented a way to make concrete without using cement.

這就是為什么這家公司發(fā)明了一個(gè)新方法，即不使用水泥的情況下來(lái)制作混凝土。

Instead of using cement to bind together the concrete, the company uses steel slag, abyproduct of the steel-making process that mostly ends up in landfills. In doing so, it avoidsthe CO2 emissions associated with cement.

這家公司使用鋼渣來(lái)取代混凝土中的水泥，鋼渣是煉鋼過(guò)程中產(chǎn)生的副產(chǎn)物，大部分時(shí)候都被當(dāng)垃圾填埋了。這么做的結(jié)果就是避免了因生產(chǎn)水泥而產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳排放。

Mehrdad Mahoutian, who originally invented the technology at McGill University, added thatprecast concrete products are normally cured with heat and steam, but Carbicrete cures itsconcrete with CO2 gas, which permanently sequesters the CO2 and keeps it out of theatmosphere.

在McGill大學(xué)發(fā)明這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的Mahrdad Mahoutian補(bǔ)充道，預(yù)制的混凝土產(chǎn)品一般來(lái)說(shuō)都是通過(guò)熱源和蒸汽來(lái)加工，但是公司使用的是二氧化碳來(lái)構(gòu)造混凝土，其永久性的將大氣中的二氧化碳封存起來(lái)。

In effect, the product is carbon-negative concrete.

結(jié)果就是，這個(gè)產(chǎn)物就是無(wú)碳的混凝土。

“We’re taking garbage, and we’re turning it into a valuable product and solving climate changeall in one step,” CEO Chris Stern said.

負(fù)責(zé)人Chris Stern表示：”我們拿走了垃圾，一步就將他們轉(zhuǎn)化成了具有價(jià)值的產(chǎn)物，而且同時(shí)還解決了氣候變化問(wèn)題。“

CarbonCure Technologies, Dartmouth, N.S.

來(lái)自新斯科舍省達(dá)特茅斯市的”碳加工科技公司“

Nova Scotia-based CarbonCure Technologies has also developed a way to use CO2 to makebetter concrete.

坐落于新斯科舍省的該公司也是通過(guò)開(kāi)發(fā)了一個(gè)新方法來(lái)將二氧化碳變成更好的混凝土。

The company takes CO2 from any industrial source – a power plant or a refinery, for example– and injects it into concrete, where it is sequestered and turned into a solid. The processreduces the carbon footprint of the product by taking CO2 out of the air and turning it into asolid material, which happens to make concrete stronger, and also cuts down the concreteproducer’s costs.

這家公司從任何工業(yè)來(lái)源，比如發(fā)電廠或者冶煉廠，獲取的二氧化碳注入混凝土，然后二氧化碳就被封存起來(lái)變成了固態(tài)。這個(gè)過(guò)程通過(guò)將二氧化碳從空氣中剝離并轉(zhuǎn)化為一種固態(tài)物質(zhì)以實(shí)現(xiàn)碳封裝，這種固態(tài)物質(zhì)還能讓混凝土的強(qiáng)度變大，同時(shí)可以降低混凝土制造商的成本。

There is more concrete manufactured on the earth than any other material, so this technologyhas the potential to reduce significant quantities of CO2, vice-president of sustainabilityJennifer Wagner said.

負(fù)責(zé)可持續(xù)發(fā)展的副主管Jennifer Wagner表示，在地球上，混凝土生產(chǎn)得比其他材料多得多，所以此項(xiàng)技術(shù)有潛力減少大量的二氧化碳。

“The technology makes concrete stronger, greener and less expensive to manufacture.”

”這項(xiàng)技術(shù)讓混凝土的強(qiáng)度變大、更環(huán)保也讓生產(chǎn)變得更便宜。“