Mazda has successfully tested its new onboard carbon capture system in racing conditions. During the most recent round of the Super Taikyu Series, a Mazda test car pulled in two pounds of carbon dioxide from its exhaust and stored it in a tank. That's considerably better than in previous tests, but compared with the fuel burned to get it, the tech is a long way from making a meaningful difference in tailpipe emissions. Mobile Carbon Capture 10 Times More Effective, More Tests Coming Mazda The Mazda Mobile Carbon Capture system is fitted in the back of a Mazda3 hatchback that runs in the Super Taikyu race series. Its carry-on-sized CO2 capture tank stores carbon dioxide for disposal after the drive. Mazda called the test a success, but the car did not finish the race. It completed just 20 hours of the 24-hour endurance event.Mazda last ran this capture test demonstration last November. The system managed to capture 84 grams of carbon dioxide. This time, it captured 804 grams, or a little under two pounds. Mazda said that this is the first time it has successfully demonstrated the entire system. To help lower the carbon footprint of the racer, Mazda ran it on hydrotreated vegetable oil. HVO is a biofuel produced by cracking vegetable oil or animal fat, and it is already widely used in Europe and California.Capturing carbon isn't easy. Mazda's system starts with a porous Zeolite in the exhaust as an absorber. Zeolites are structures that are really good at trapping particles of a certain size, in this case the CO2 molecules. Zeolites release their trapped particles when heated, so Mazda uses the exhaust to add that heat. The CO2 then leaves the Zeolite and is pumped into the tank by an electric compressor. System Captured CO2 Equivalent To 1/10 Gallon Of Gas... In 20 Hours Mazda How effective was the capture system? Every gallon of gas burned in an engine results in about 19 pounds of CO2, or 8,887 grams. In 20 hours of racing conditions, the Mazda system captured the carbon dioxide emissions of around one-tenth of one gallon of gasoline. Obviously, the race car burned a tad more than one-tenth of a gallon of fuel.It's not exactly world-altering, but it is a start. Developing new tech like this takes time, and we're sure that there are plenty of people who want to stick with gasoline enough to see it through. Mazda is planning to keep pushing forward. It said that it is entering "a new phase of development" that will focus on more testing and more refinement of the system in its race cars.The plan for now is another test in Round 7 of the Super Taikyu Series set for November. From there, Mazda will work with its partners to try and determine its "potential applicability in typical driving scenarios beyond experimental vehicles." CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters: It sounds great, but currently Mazda is only pitching it as a solution for race cars. The system is complex, and that's not going to change with more R&D. What will have to change is its efficiency, because capturing 804 grams of CO2 in 20 hours is the equivalent of taking a gallon of water out of Lake Mead. Until Mazda can get its capture rate up to something more like 50%, which would require a massive tank or frequent changes, the technology has no practical application. But hey, you have to start somewhere.