Rice University chemists’ product aims to enhance natural
gas production at sea
The best material to
keep carbon dioxide from natural gas wells from fouling the atmosphere may be a
derivative of asphalt, according to Rice University scientists.
The Rice laboratory of chemist James Tour followed up on
last year’s discovery of a “green” carbon capture material for wellhead
sequestration with the news that an even better compound could be made cheaply
in a few steps from asphalt, the black, petroleum-based substance primarily
used to build roads.