Eindhoven students present car that captures more CO2 than it emits

Students at the Eindhoven University of Technology have developed and built an electric passenger car that uses a special filter to capture more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the car emits. The students will continue to improve the vehicle, Zem, to make it carbon neutral from production until recycling, TU/e said in a statement.

The car was developed by the student team TU/ecomotive. It can capture 2 kilograms of CO2 through a special filter at 20,000 travel miles per year. The team is in the process of applying for a patent for their filter.

According to the team, ten of these cars can store as much CO2 as an average tree. “That may not seem like much, but the overall payoff is significant if you were to soon implement it on a large scale in every passenger car,” the team said. “Afer all, there are more than a billion passenger cars driving around the world.”

The team believes that their filter can change the world. “It is really still a proof-of-concept, but we can already see that we will be able to increase the capacity of the filter in the coming years. Capturing CO2 is a prerequisite for compensating for emissions during production and recycling,” said team leader Louise de Laat.

The students hope their car will encourage the transport sector to become more sustainable. “We want to tickle the industry by showing what is already possible,” saint Nikko Okkels of TU/ecomotive. “If 35 students can design, develop, and build an almost carbon-neutral car in a year, then there are also opportunities and possibilities for the industry.”