Written by Loren Smith // Originally published in University of Sydney News
The philanthropic research foundation of tech billionaire Elon Musk has awarded USD$250,000 to a University of Sydney team developing technology to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Their project, Sydney Sustainable Carbon, involves the removal and permanent storage of carbon dioxide from the air, with no association to any fossil fuel source or company.
Once removed from the atmosphere, the CO2 could also be used to support sustainable agriculture and horticulture. However, the team plans to permanently store all the captured CO2 in geologic formations. This will be one of the first Direct Air Capture projects in Australia.
The University team, overseen by Professor Deanna D’Alessandro from the University of Sydney Nano Institute and the School of Chemistry, is comprised of nine students, including Wenger, a 2021 graduate of the MS in Energy and Sustainability (MSES) program at Northwestern University. “The MSES program at Northwestern gave me a fundamental understanding of energy markets, technologies, and policies,” says Wenger. “This program is where I was first introduced to the concept of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Direct Air Capture (DAC). Through continued work with faculty, I was able to find and join a world-leading PhD program in my area of interest. I'm immensely thankful to the MSES faculty and administrators for putting me in a position to succeed after graduation.”
Prior to enrolling in the MSES program, Wenger received a BS in Operations Research Engineering from Cornell University and founded a crowdfunding platform for sustainable projects called GreenFundr. He leveraged an interest in MSES program curriculum in carbon capture and storage systems to pursue a PhD in Direct Air Capture from the University of Sydney, Australia upon graduation.
To read the full story in University of Sydney news, click here.
