Convert CO₂ for Food, Fuel and More!

In 1958, NASA began monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Since then, levels have risen more than 24 percent — that’s a lot of CO₂! You are probably already familiar with CO₂ as a “greenhouse gas,” one of a group of compounds that turns energy from the sun into heat in our atmosphere, but what if we could capture CO₂ and turn it into something we could use?

Lauren Beckingham, an assistant professor in Auburn's Department of Civil Engineering within the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, is leading a team that is currently tackling this question.

If you are concerned about rising levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere, you can help by supporting our Tiger Giving Day project to purchase a benchtop Paar reactor. This equipment will bolster the work of a team of Auburn experts which depends on understanding how CO₂ behaves when it is exposed to high temperatures and pressures.

The precision and capability of the reactor will move their work forward more quickly, enabling this multidisciplinary team to develop solutions to the challenge of CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Although rising levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere have some people worried, Auburn researchers see this challenge as an opportunity. What if CO₂ could be turned into fuel? Or used as a battery to store energy created by wind, water, or the sun? Or used instead of water for geothermal heating? Or turned into calcium carbonate and used to grow food? 

These are questions that a group of Auburn faculty are tackling and seeking efficient ways to utilize CO₂ before it is dispersed into the atmosphere.

You can be part of the team. Your gift and their brilliant science. 

Thank you for considering supporting our team, and be sure to share this project with family and friends who may also be interested in helping.

War Eagle!