It’s the massive buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that makes it increasingly likely we will see warming temperatures, longer droughts and rising sea levels – all posing challenges to the habitability of much of the planet.

At the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University, director Klaus Lackner is developing a method to remove CO2 from the air with a resin material that absorbs the gas.

Lackner is a physicist and professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

The plastic resin he is working with shows promise as the linchpin of a process to capture large amounts of atmospheric CO2 for reuse and permanent disposal.

Along with developing the technology, another key effort of Lackner’s center is to convince people of the economic feasibility of the process and to pave the way for its commercialization on a major industrial scale.

In an extensive article, Fast Company magazine reports on Lackner’s outlook on the possibility of building up the enterprise to a level at which it could have a global impact.