Students at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have designed an electric car that not only does not pollute the air, but in fact ‘cleans’ it and removes CO2 directly from it.
The prototype of the revolutionary vehicle is called ZEM and uses special filters that capture carbon from the atmosphere as the car moves.
The students at Eindhoven University of Technology are known for coming up with innovative technological solutions for cars every few years or so.
This year, however, the students wanted to go above and beyond and show something that is not just green and eco-friendly, but might actually help reverse climate change.
The newly developed car runs on electricity and therefore does not contribute to global warming by releasing emissions into the air.
But on top of that, the car removes and stores away existing CO2 emissions using direct air capture (DAC) technology.
Relevant: Experts Reveal Promising Future For CDR At Climeworks DAC Summit
At the moment, the amount of CO2 that ZEM can remove isn’t that large – only about 4.4 lbs of carbon per 20,000 miles, meaning 10 of these prototypes are capable of storing as much CO2 as an average tree.
However, the technology is still only a proof-of-concept, meaning that it can certainly still be improved and perfected, as was shared by Louise de Laat, team manager of the project.
And given that the ZEM car is built entirely from 3D printed parts, there are hardly any questions as to its scalability, which is always a primary issue where climate tech is concerned.
The team also took care of the car’s afterlife to ensure its sustainability and eco-friendliness by seeing to it that all of its parts can either be recycled or reused.
Read more: Startup CO2Rail Is Putting Direct Air Capture Tech On Trains!
