Capturing CO₂ was never too expensive: MIT invention shows a phone’s energy can clean the air
The fight against climate change has been described as the silent enemy of the 21st century. Invisible, yet omnipresent, its increasing levels in the atmosphere are associated with heatwaves, fires, and extreme phenomena that are striking more frequently. Until now, solutions existed to capture carbon dioxide, but they were costly and inefficient.
A technology that breaks an energy myth
For over a decade, there has been research on filtering CO₂ from the atmosphere to store it or reuse it in materials like concrete or synthetic fuels. The problem has always been the same: it required high temperatures, steam, or complex facilities that consumed huge amounts of energy.
More than a filter: a portable air lab
The breakthrough presented by the MIT-KAIST team breaks that barrier. Their system, called e-DAC (Electrified Direct Air Capture), uses conductive fibers that, thanks to the Joule effect, reach the necessary temperature with just 3 volts. The heart of the innovation lies in the design of nanofibers coated with conductive silver. These fibers act as electrical sponges: when heated, they capture CO₂ molecules with over 95% efficiency.
The most remarkable aspect is not only the efficiency but also its modularity. It can be integrated into renewable energy systems, operating with solar panels or wind turbines, and applied in industrial plants or even urban environments. In other words, it’s not a lab project but a scalable platform ready to go.
From climate enemy to valuable resource
The fate of the captured CO₂ opens another door: far from treating it as mere waste, it can be transformed into useful products. From construction materials to synthetic fuels or carbonated beverages, capture also becomes an economic driver. Argue that this dual function—reducing emissions and generating resources—could be a turning point in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. The fact that the process requires so little energy makes this vision realistic and not just aspirational.
The challenge ahead is to scale production and reduce costs of materials like silver, but the direction is clear: turning the invisible into tangible, converting a gas that threatens the climate into valuable raw material. The message from this research is clear: it’s not that we don’t know how to capture carbon, but that we didn’t have the right tool until now. With e-DAC, that tool seems to be getting closer. And with it, the possibility that the fight against climate change will no longer be an uneven battle but a technological and economic opportunity.
