The largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation.*United States Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011.*

Carbon emissions are the largest contributors to greenhouse gases, which have been linked to climate change. With worldwide demand for energy soaring, curbing CO2 emissions will become even more challenging. Georgia Tech researchers are pioneering new materials for capturing CO2 directly from emission sources, such as smokestacks, coal-fired power plants and other generators of greenhouse gas, as well as from ambient air. Standard techniques for capturing CO2 from emission sources require significant amounts of energy and are corrosive to carbon capturing equipment, making the technologies expensive to deploy. To address these challenges, Georgia Tech researchers have developed alternative methods for separating and capturing carbon dioxide.