Scientists Recycle CO2 with Sunlight to Make Fuel

An anonymous reader brings us this article from Wired about a new method to produce fuel with the help of concentrated sunlight and carbon dioxide. The process "reverses" combustion, breaking down the CO2 into carbon monoxide, which is then used as a building block for hydrocarbons. Quoting: "The Sandia team envisions a day when CR5s are installed in large numbers at coal-fired power plants. Each of them could reclaim 45 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air daily and produce enough carbon monoxide to make 2.5 gallons of fuel. Coupling the CR5 with CO2 reclamation and sequestration technology, which several scientists already are pursuing, could make liquid hydrocarbons a renewable fuel."

Comments

Grampa's biotech solution

[Harmonious Botch]

My grandfather used to be an employee in a biotechnology venture in the 30's. It was a two stage process. The first was a corn - or sometimes a potato - plant. The second was a still. ( He was a tinsmith. ) The input was CO2 and sunlight, the output was ethanol.

Re:Grampa's biotech solution

[edwardpickman]

Yeah but this time they are hoping to run a car with the fuel instead of running your grandfather.

Vaporware

[Anonymous Coward]

This sounds a lot like vaporware, in both senses of the word.

Re:underwhelming

[FudRucker]

that was my first thought too, 2.5 gallons of fuel per plant a day amounts to all the coal fired plants in the USA can get together and sell one person a tank of gas for their car...

Re:Doesn't make sense

[Fear the Clam]

perhaps ammonia is a simpler compromise

And unlike gasoline, you wouldn't have to clean up an ammonia spill. In ammonia-fueled car, fuel spill cleans you!

Re:Doesn't make sense

[Dirtside]

So... in Soviet Russia, I guess that means you DO clean ammonia spills?

Old Technology

[PPH]

Convert CO2 to fuel with sunlight. We've had that for years. They're called plants.

Amazing!

[mqduck]

An anonymous reader brings us this article from Wired about a new method to produce fuel with the help of concentrated sunlight and carbon dioxide. The scientists inventing this method are calling it "tree".

Re:Doesn't make sense

[ross.w]

# The magazines store enough energy for like half a YEAR of use, so even longish periods of drougth are no problem. So six months without filling the lake is a drought is it?

Warragamba Dam near Sydney stores enough water for five years and hasn't been full since 1987.

<Crocodile Dundee>

Now that's a drought!

</Crocodile Dundee>