CO2Rail: Trains could capture CO2 from the atmosphere

The first carbon negative transportation mean? Rail-Based, Self-Powered Direct Air Carbon Capture. If yesterday we posted about an electric car that captures CO2, today the news is trains that can capture CO2 from the atmosphere. Well... more about EOT... Energy Of Things...

A US startup founded in 2020 - CO2Rail, in partnership with MIT, University of Toronto, Princeton University, University of Sheffield, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie and Margaree Consultants Inc. developed a direct air capture (DAC) technology installed in specific rail cars, which removes excess CO2 and is self-powered from the braking energy generated by the train, regenerative, sustainable and without the need for an external energy source.

The CO2Rail car with zero emissions and direct carbon capture from the air by regenerative braking, has air inlets that extend along the length of the train. Certain configurations with multiple air inlets can remove more than 15 tons of CO2 per day, for geological sequestration, the "traditional" CCS discussed in other posts. In addition, each braking maneuver generates enough regenerative energy to remove more than 1.5 tons of CO2.

Fantastic, no? Ah, the startup competes for $100 million XPrize Carbon Removal by the Musk Foundation ...

Click on the image below for the CO2Rail Pitch Deck, in a 7 minutes video format.

And just as a reminder of one year ago, here is the link to our post about the hydrogen-powered locomotive launched in Poland, a post very appreciated at the time.