A new material may be able to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into a commercially useful substance, according to a team at the University of Pittsburgh. Using the XSEDE resource Bridges at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, they simulated two "metal oxide framework" materials that simulated removal of carbon dioxide from exhaust gas. Better, the material also converted it into formic acid, which can be used to make products like methanol fuel. If the material works as well in the lab and factory as it does in the computer, it could fundamentally alter the economics of limiting human CO2 release and avoiding climate change.
