Converting The Enemy

An interesting development in the world of chemistry caught my eye just now. Imagine taking that carbon dioxide that is in so many of our emissions, and that is one of the principal agents in the processes contributing to global warming, and using solar energy, converting it into fuel. Now that would really be an interesting possibility, wouldn’t it?

Well, it is possible. Whether it will ever be a viable scheme that makes any practical sense is another matter, but you’ve got to start somewhere. A team of chemists represented by Gabriele Centi of the University of Messina (Italy) presented new results on this process to the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco. From New Scientist:

The researchers chemically reduced CO2 to produce eight and nine-carbon hydrocarbons using a catalyst of particles of platinum and palladium confined in carbon nanotubes. These hydrocarbons can be made into petrol and diesel.

To begin with, the researchers used sunlight plus a thin film of titanium dioxide to act as a photocatalyst to split water into oxygen gas plus protons and electrons. These are then carried off separately, via a proton membrane and wire respectively, before being combined with CO2 plus the nano-catalyst to produce the hydrocarbons.

Here’s the actual abstract of the talk:

Converting CO2 to fuel: A dream or a challenge?

In the CO2 conversion using solar energy, direct (photochemical) or indirect (photoelectrochemical) routes are possible. The 2nd has the theoretical advantage of higher efficiency by reducing the rate of recombination of e-/h+ pairs generated in the photoexcitation process. Photoelectrochemical conversion of CO2 has been studied mainly in liquid phase using either homo- or heterogeneous catalysts. The first step of the CO2 conversion in liquid phase is the generation of the CO2•- anion radical which is easily converts to products such as formic, oxalic and glycolic acids which recovery from aqueous solution is costly. Products such as methanol and methane may also obtained, but with low selectivities. We will instead report how using confined catalysts and a gas phase electroreduction of CO2 it is possible to form Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons (up to over C8), a discovery which open interesting perspectives in closing the cycle from fuels to CO2 and back to fuels.

The full team/project is called “ELCAT” (Electrocatalytic Gas-Phase Conversion of CO2 in Confined Catalysts – the most sparing use I’ve ever seen of letters from a title to make an acronym), and involves workers in Germany, France, and Greece. Their website is here.

Green Car Congress has a little more analysis of the chemistry here, (the main breakthrough is better understanding of the catalysts, the electrolyte and the flow rate to produce longer chained haydrocarbons than had been obtained before) and along with New Scientist, they also mention that:

Prof. Centi observed that in addition to its utility on Earth, such a process would be of use for Mars missions that could use Martian resources (CO2 and water) to produce propellant for Earth return as well as life-support consumables.

But yes, as mentioned by the researchers, and several other scientists, there’s a lot more work to be done to see if this is really a viable process. As excellent a use of EU funds as I’ve ever seen.

-cvj

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6 Responses to Converting The Enemy

  1. Zunzara says:

    We all know that in the last year or two scientists are trying to make alternative for fossil fuels, and this is another product of these tryings, however this method kill two bugs with one blow, an air pollution problem and new energy source, which it one step further than using hydrogen and from economical point of view no motor changes will be needed. But there is a long way to there.

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  3. Plato says:

    “Who is the enemy of thy enemy?” If we start with one, we get two? And of two ,three?

    So while it may be yours as a philosophical insight based on a lot of science knowledge, what value to cast another into such a category as thy enemy?

    Maybe “a raising” of what has held back such progressions, that such progression will be marked by such changes? Computerization?

    The “depth of perception” brings clarity when it is explained, but taking this comment on face value may seem…um…strange?

  4. Plato says:

    I think one needed to understand the geometical principals of allotropes here to see that such a creation could have ever followed some carbon based system?

    While we are all endow with these philosophical inisights as to the duties we have in regards to the anomalistical features nature can throw at us (beetle infestation of forest lands) it may be in such solutions we can utilze what was a “negative effect,” as something “now ” profoundly positive? 🙂

    A converter of sorts to emissions, so you can then drive a SUV? 🙂

  5. Aaron F. says:

    Very interesting! Fossil fuels are an extremely convoluted way of using hydrocarbons to store solar energy; this technique is a direct route to the same end. Too bad it’s not likely to be viable in the near future, when we’ll really need it. 🙁

    there’s a lot more work to be done
    And this doesn’t begin to take into account the vast amount of energy necessary for it.

    It takes energy to get any new energy source started. Our options are to make that investment now, or to wait until fossil fuels are so scarce that we may not be able to make it at all.

  6. spyder says:

    there’s a lot more work to be done
    And this doesn’t begin to take into account the vast amount of energy necessary for it. Not counting the mining of the minerals and refining and purification of them, the production of the nano-catalysts and proton membranes, one also has to collect and store CO2 in some usable form. Even using sunlight as the energy source for the catalyzation requires energy to create the equipment. Somewhere long long long down the road, we might find a process that could break even on the deal. Right now we are quickly becoming at risk for losing energy in the extraction, processing, refining, storing, transporting the known fossil fuels.