Recent expansions in urban agriculture The United States relies on industrial greenhouses, which use an artificially enriched atmosphere that contains up to three times the amount of CO2 in normal air. to improve plant and crop health.
These urban farms would greatly benefit from a constant source of free, reclaimed CO2 and water expelled from car exhausts, a technical report by researchers at Texas A&M University suggests.
Organic Rankine Cycle System
In the new integrated harnessing device, the heat from the engine could feed an organic Rankine cycle system (ORC), essentially a small, closed unit containing a turbine, heat exchangers, condenser, and feed pump.
Theoretically, vehicle owners could deliver cartridges filled with CO2 and water to recovery centers the same way people bring aluminum and steel cans nowadays.
Or drivers could even use the CO2 and water in their own greenhouse systems or within a community, as long as the CO2 was used responsibly and fully absorbed by plants.