Novel Carbon Capture Tech Makes Case for More Wind Turbines

As global emissions continue to rise, the world’s top scientists and engineers are working on ways to counteract warming and prevent the most catastrophic outcomes of climate change. With a 1.5 °C reduction target, it will take not only reducing emissions but also capturing the carbon dioxide (CO₂) that has already been released.  

Luciano Castillo, the Kenninger Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, felt compelled to work on a solution after seeing the news about New Delhi in 2019. The city’s smog caused by air pollution was so extreme that a person could not walk outside without the toxic air burning their airways. A public health emergency was issued and schools and workplaces were forced to shut down. 

“I was teaching my wind energy class and I asked my students to look at how we can use wind energy to capture CO₂ without using more energy,” Castillo said. “This is when we started to look into the potential of wind energy.” 

In March 2024, Castillo and his team published an article in the Journal of Renewable Energy and Sustainability that investigates the efficiency of carbon capture devices that are affixed to the turbines.  

They found that turbulence increases entrainment from above and below the wind turbines and low-pressure regions behind the wind turbines are ideal for direct capture, sucking air in from above and below while filtering out CO₂. This is called the “Turbulence Entrainment Effect,” which manipulates air currents to concentrate CO₂ locally.  

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Captured CO₂ would travel through a liquid filtration system that uses a water calcium hydroxide solution, which would mix with the CO₂ to produce calcium carbonate. This substance would then be stored in chambers beneath the turbine that can later be used to manufacture concrete, closing the loop on wasteful concrete production. The team has already secured a patent for the technology. 

After studying the impact of this technology in 13 different locations across the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia, the researchers determined that this technology can generate a maximum atmospheric reduction of 138 kg/m of CO₂. To put that into perspective, on average, a car emits about 8.9 kg of CO₂ for every gallon of gasoline consumed. And if the concentration of CO₂ is higher, the reduction rate can increase up to 27 kg/m.

Currently, one of the main solutions for carbon capture is the use of giant fan-like devices for a technique called direct air capture. These machines require a massive amount of space, equivalent to about 280,000 soccer fields, and underground piping systems, which have high installation costs. 

Direct air capture is prohibitively expensive and ultimately still relies on fossil fuels and water usage to operate. They also aren’t nearly as effective because most CO₂ hovers higher in the atmosphere than these fans can reach without intense energy usage. But, as Castillo pointed out, wind turbines are already giant fans, high enough to reach the CO₂, and they don’t use fuel to operate, nor do they require water like other energy sources.  

“We're not just talking about an engineering problem or an environmental problem, we're talking about a public health problem,” he shared. “What we're presenting here is a solution that gives us clean breathable air and preserves our fresh water.”  

Furthermore, there are benefits beyond the obvious when it comes to utilizing wind turbines. Many people are concerned about the effect of wind turbines on wildlife and crops, noted Venkatesh Pulletikurthi, who conducted this research as part of his Ph.D. at Purdue. But the team also found that wind turbines on land increase the local concentration of CO₂, which is beneficial for the plants and makes the work of natural sequestration even easier. 

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“There’s an all-around benefit to the entire local environment and economy,” Pulletikurthi added. “Not to mention the jobs this would create.” 

With these findings, Castillo and Pulletikurthi hope that countries may be able to make more informed decisions about their renewable energy opportunities. With the widespread deployment of these CO₂ capture systems, it may be possible to stay within the 1.5 °C target and create a more sustainable future.  

“It’s Newton’s Second Law of Motion,” Castillo added. “It’s the principles of engineering that are providing solutions to fight climate change.”   

In continuing their research, the Purdue team will focus on possible innovations for urban landscapes where the concentration of CO₂ is at its highest. As Pulletikurthi says, “It’s all about expanding their perspective to continue to find solutions.”  

By harnessing the power of wind energy to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and utilizing it to create sustainable building materials, this innovative approach offers a tangible solution to global challenges. 

Cassandra Kelly is a technology writer in Columbus, Ohio.