FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Northern Arizona University mechanical engineering professor Jennifer Wade is working on finding ways to remove human-caused emissions, specifically carbon dioxide, here in Arizona.
"My funded work is very much focused on components of this process, specifically, the materials that will bind carbon dioxide," Wade said.
She's trying to find new materials that are more energy efficient, more affordable, and work faster to remove CO2 emissions than what's currently available.
One possible method is putting removed carbon back into the ground from where it came or storing carbon as a solid.
Wade says another option is chemically treating removed carbon dioxide and turning it into a commodity such as formic acid or jet fuel.
She's also wanting to work with tribal communities in the state since most of the open land is under their jurisdiction.
"We're treading carefully and I'm working with Arizona State's Office of American Native Initiatives in this effort," she said. "We need to just first understand if it's something that would be a value, and if so, can we design it in a way that would give that community the most benefit, but the benefits decided by them, not me, the engineer."
The project is still in its infancy stage, but Wade says that at its core, it's a climate solution. Many climate solutions will be needed, however, to limit how much warming our world experiences.
