Baking Soda Made From CO2 Emissions

Skyonic , a Texas-based company devoted to mineralizing carbon emissions, is planning to turn carbon capture into a lucrative business by putting the pollutants into a common baking ingredient.

The very first Skyonic Skymine facility, in San Antonio, is currently under construction at a cement factory. The first-of-its-kind facility will capture carbon dioxide and other emissions from the industrial process and convert it into sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid. Skyonic will then sell the resulting baking soda. The total process is expected to offset more than 300,000 tons of CO2 each year.

Skyonic’s process scrubs carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and heavy metals from the waste gases. The heavy metals are stored, and the C02 is put into absorption chambers where it is treated with salt-based caustic soda and water. Voilà, baking soda results, along with hydrogen gas and chlorine gas.

According to many experts, carbon capture and mineralization, as the process is called, is a better alternative to carbon capture and sequestration, which involves trapping carbon dioxide waste from industrial processes and storing it underground. Although in use for over ten years, the process is new, sometimes problematic, not to mention very costly.

Experts believe that despite public skepticism, the baking soda that Skyonic produces is cleaner and better grade that baking-grade baking soda.