World's first train to capture CO2 from air might be on its way

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Web Desk
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Freight transport. — Unsplash
Freight transport. — Unsplash

  • US-based startup working to develop train that extracts CO2 from air as it moves.
  • Sucked-in gas can be converted to liquid and stored.
  • Researchers claim each carriage could get rid of up to 3,000 tonnes of CO2 from air annually.


A US-based startup working with engineers from the University of Toronto and the University of Sheffield named CO2Rail Company is aiming to develop a train that removes carbon dioxide from the air as it moves ahead, reported The Daily Mail. 

Train travel is nowhere close to being carbon neutral, emitting 14 grams of CO2 per mile.

The team is working on building large vents on the train that take in air as the train journeys. The sucked-in gas can be converted to liquid and stored.

Researchers claim that each carriage could get rid of up to 3,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air annually. They also think that this method is more cost-efficient compared to other solutions.

A co-author of the study, Professor Peter Styring, said that the removal of carbon dioxide has become "an urgent necessity".

In an article published in Joule, scientists draw out the model for the  CO2Rail carriages.

It says that the liquified gas can be emptied at a fuelling stop which can then be transferred to the "circular carbon economy or to nearby geological landfill sites."

If the design works, the system would emerge as the planet's first carbon-neutral large-scale transportation.