Mazda has demonstrated an onboard carbon capture system during a 24 hour race at the Fuji 24 Hours in Japan. The system captured 804 grams of CO2 from the exhaust of a race prepped Mazda 3 running on HVO fuel. This is about 10 times more than the 84 grams captured in a shorter test last year. The device uses an adsorbent material to collect CO2 from hot exhaust gases, then compresses and stores it in a tank for later use in products like fertiliser or plastics. Mazda is also developing a biofuel made from microalgae that can reduce CO2 output by roughly 90 percent compared to petrol. Combined with the carbon capture device, the company claims a car could become carbon negative, meaning it removes more CO2 than it emits. However, the biofuel production scale remains a challenge, with current yields at about one litre of fuel per 1,000 litres of algae culture over two weeks. The carbon capture system also needs further refinement before it could appear in production cars or as a retrofit for existing vehicles.
