New process converts carbon into baking soda

Hazel Nagata-Rampata ’26, Staff Reporter

Ice is melting quickly, with claws digging into it for one last hope at gripping onto life. This is not the perspective of humans, but rather  animals like polar bears who are facing the life-changing effects of climate change. However, due to a new study, there may be a way to  help this problem. 

Baking soda, a widely-used chemical in industries like pharmaceuticals, food, and cleaning products, can be created out of captured CO2. One method of turning carbon into baking soda is by mixing it with sodium hydroxide. This process results in baking soda, which can be used as a more renewable way of selling this product. If it is unable to be sold, then it will most likely be stored in seawater, as it has no known ecological damage to the environment. 

A new process would extract carbon dioxide before it has entered the atmosphere, more specifically from places like the areas at steel and coal plants. Direct Air Capture is another way of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, this would take more energy due to carbon being more sparse in the atmosphere.

  This discovery is one that could be life changing for many, but only if companies were to mass produce this process. Could this be a small solution for climate change?