Ada Palmer in Elk: "Scientists have developed an electrode t..."

Scientists have developed an electrode that can capture CO2 directly from flue gas and even straight from the atmosphere, no purification required. The electrode process turns the CO₂ into formic acid, a weak acid currently used to preserve livestock feed and tan leather. American Chemical Society https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2026/january/turning-industrial-exhaust-into-useful-materials-with-a-new-electrode.html #ShareGoodNewsToo

March 13, 2026 at 4:00:46 PM

OOOOH

I'll hold my applause until validation and open-sourcing.

also "more efficient than existing solutions" plainly does not cut it. It would need to be orders of magnitude better, because current solutions are nowhere near efficient or effective.

It's a good step, but it is not going to save us any time soon.

Forming fomic acid (CH2O2) from CO2 needs H2O (=Water).

_"[...] electrode that allows gas to diffuse in, then catches and converts the airborne CO2.
[...]three layers: a specialized carbon-capturing material, gas-permeable carbon paper, and catalytic tin(IV) oxide. [...] converted CO2 gas directly into formic acid_"

I still don't see any H2O here, nor H2 or O2.