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Making Liquid Fuels From Sun and Air

Posted by samzenpus on from the here-comes-the-sun dept.

GregLaden writes: There is promising research on converting atmospheric CO2 and water, using sunlight as a source of energy, into burnable liquid fuels. This is not a carbon capture technique because the CO2 ultimately returns to the atmosphere after burning the fuel, but it could allow the production of enough liquid fuel to allow the rest of the motorized economy to switch to mainly electric. There are key uses for liquid fuels, even if most 'engines' become electric motors. The science of how this works is fairly interesting, and a recent writeup in Science gives some of the details.

4 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Renewable Energy is a better label by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure it's not carbon capture, but it is renewable.

    --
    09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  2. Other than the "liquid fuels" part... by r-diddly · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...you know what I could swear this technology sounds like? A motherfucking TREE.

  3. Re:so many things wrong with EV tech pushing by jabuzz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Transmissions systems for electricity are way way more efficient than you suggest. In Great Britain transmission and distribution losses run at around 7%, and that is from the power station into the home/business. Expect these losses to fall as we move to HVDC transmission.

    The next glaringly obvious mistake is that charging a battery is not 50% efficient either. It is typically around the 85% efficient mark. If you Goggle it you see a Tesla Model S turns 82% of the power at the wall into power in the battery.

    With two such glaring mistakes I can only presume that your post is meant to spread deliberate misinformation.

  4. The solution is Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    With a bunch of LFTRs (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors a type of Molten salt reactor) you could produce all kinds of liquid fuel from the electricity generated by the reactor, plus you could create tons of fresh water. All with hardly any nuclear waste at all, or any fear of nuclear melt down.