Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a new material for direct air capture of carbon dioxide using protein waste from cheese and tofu production. The protein fibers are turned into beads that capture CO2 at room temperature without the high heat required by conventional systems. Tests show one gram captures about 97 milligrams of CO2, outperforming many existing materials by 10 to 50 percent. The beads can be reused for hundreds of cycles and release captured CO2 using a mild acid and base wash instead of energy-intensive heating. The process uses food industry waste that is widely available and low cost. The team is now testing whether the method scales from lab grams to industrial volumes. If scaled successfully, this approach could lower the cost of direct air capture significantly. Current DAC systems are expensive because they require large amounts of energy to move air and release captured CO2. A material that works at room temperature and uses waste inputs could change the economics of carbon removal projects.
