Scientists Use Sunlight to Make Fuel From CO2

[Michaelangelica]

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico have found a way of using sunlight to recycle carbon dioxide and produce fuels like methanol or gasoline.

 

The Sunlight to Petrol, or S2P, project essentially reverses the combustion process, recovering the building blocks of hydrocarbons. They can then be used to synthesize liquid fuels like methanol or gasoline. Researchers said the technology already works and could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, although large-scale implementation could be a decade or more away.

Scientists Use Sunlight to Make Fuel From CO2

[freeztar]

http://hypography.com/forums/technology-news/13682-sandias-sunshine-petrol-project-seeks-fuel.html

 

:)

[Michaelangelica]

I can't get my head around this.

Is it my lack of chemistry or is it a huge hoax?

[freeztar]

I can't get my head around this.

Is it my lack of chemistry or is it a huge hoax?

 

It's not a hoax.

 

Here's a quote from the article:

The prototype will be about the size and shape of a beer keg. It will contain 14 cobalt ferrite rings, each about one foot in diameter and turning at one revolution per minute. An 88-square meter solar furnace will blast sunlight into the unit, heating the rings to about 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, cobalt ferrite releases oxygen. When the rings cool to about 2,000 degrees, they're exposed to CO2.

 

Since the cobalt ferrite is now missing oxygen, it snatches some from the CO2, leaving behind just carbon monoxide -- a building block for making hydrocarbons -- that can then be used to make methanol or gasoline. And with the cobalt ferrite restored to its original state, the device is ready for another cycle.

So it's simply a novel means to convert different substances using the sun's heat energy to drive chemical reactions.

 

My biggest question is about the cobalt ferrite rings. How expensive and energy intensive are they to produce? Is cobalt ferrite found naturally occuring?