DOHA — The UN Climate Change Conference, COP18 Doha 2012, is all about finding solutions for a sustainable future and Saudi Aramco, one of the participants in Saudi delegation, is presenting one of the most innovative ideas: a car that captures its own CO2 emissions. The project was initiated in 2003, when engineers from Saudi Aramco started working on theoretical hypotheses to reduce the carbon impact of cars. After years of research and development, Saudi Aramco's R&D team defined a promising and feasible concept to capture CO2 emissions from conventional car engines. That car, which is still a prototype at this moment, captures its own CO2 emission and stocks it onboard. The system enabling this performance consists of 3 components: a carbon capture unit utilizing absorbent materials that can capture CO2 from the exhaust stream, a compression and storage system, and finally a unit recycling the heat produced by the vehicle to operate the whole carbon capture system onboard, without any additional or external energy supply. At this stage, the prototype captures 10 percent of its emissions, but the target is to reach 60 percent in the near future with a more compact configuration. The concept would not be complete without a solution to dispose of the CO2 stocked onboard, and the engineers have already determined some ways to dispose of the collected carbon dioxide. Drivers will upload the CO2 when they refuel their tank at petrol stations. Those stocks of carbon will then be used for EOR (enhanced oil recovery), sequestration and industrial uses or they will be converted on-site into alternative energy such as fuel or fuel additives. An expert from Aramco said “it is a challenging project and we are optimistic about implementing it and our aim is for the technology to be mass produced. This concept will have a bright future, if we come up with effective ways to use and convert the CO2 into useful purposes.” — SG
