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An English company called Air Fuel Synthesis has begun producing gasoline (petrol) directly from air and water. Using carbon capture technology to sequester CO2 out of the atmosphere, and electrolysis to crack water into its constuituent hydrogen and oxygen, the company's process then combines the hydrogen and carbon dioxide to create synthetic gasoline or other fuels.
To be carbon emissions neutral, any carbon that is going to be burned as fuel ought to have come from the atmosphere, rather than from fossil sources buried in the ground. That is why plant-based and microbial methods of producing fuel are considered relatively clean, since the carbon in them was atmospheric. This process short circuits that even further by directly extracting the CO2 from the air and synthetically creating the gasoline replacement.
In addition to the direct atmospheric carbon extraction, the process also uses renewable energy to power the electrolysis process, so that the carbon debt is not merely transferred. Although the feedstock is free, the other costs of the process are likely too high for this to be an immediate replacement for oil drilling and refining, at least in the short term. And the process has only been able to produce a small amount of fuel in its test facility, yielding just five liters (less than 1.5 gallons) in two months. But cost and capacity are issues that can be improved as the method is developed and scaled up.
This adds to the number of non-petroleum processes being developed for fuel production we have seen. It seems less a question of whether these methods will work than it is one of which ones will reach commercial scale, and how soon that happens.
via: Treehugger
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written by Belfor Minneapolis, October 25, 2012
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written by lynn, October 25, 2012
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written by sarah, October 28, 2012
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written by Gareth, October 31, 2012
The story about hydrocarbons being made from decomposing biological material is a fairy story too. Earth's reserves are primordial and were present when the planet formed.
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written by Alyssa R, October 31, 2012
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written by Derek, November 07, 2012
The only long term solution is for mankind to want less energy.
We're doomed I tell ye, DOOMED!
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written by Derek, November 07, 2012
The only long term solution is for mankind to want less energy.
We're doomed I tell ye, DOOMED!
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written by Craig Dunn, November 20, 2012
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written by Rob, November 22, 2012
The world has no shortage of potential solutions -- but it does have a shortage of time and money resources to pursue them. Saying "no" to something, does not imply we don't say "yes" to something else (e.g., a something else whose potential is significantly greater).
From my perspective we would be better off simply using the hydrogen directly by burning/fuel-celling it rather than adding carbon -- as the end product (just water) is a lot more useable, as well as better energy out return for energy in (i.e., a greater production of hydrogen from the renewable input).
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written by Crystal, December 17, 2012
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written by trends, January 19, 2013
http://www.trendsfair.com/petrol-can-be-made-from-air-and-water/
The news that burst on Friday said that petrol can be made from air and water. At present, the petrol is being extracted from ores and then pumped in to vehicles in the petrol bunks on the roadsides.
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written by Bernard Deham, April 09, 2013
The oil industry lobby is behind this, otherwise we would not use any fossil fuel anymore!
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It is all very well saying that the electricity required will come from a renewable source but for the foreseeable future we will not have much "spare" renewable electricity. However it will be a possible method of using such "spare" renewable electricity though it is unlikely to be as efficient as pumped water or air energy storage.