Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide (news.mit.edu)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:00
https://lemmy.world/post/7665292

Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide::An efficient new process can convert carbon dioxide into formate, a material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and generate electricity.

#technology

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MossyFeathers@pawb.social on 02 Nov 2023 02:19 next collapse

What’s the catch?

pigup@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:23 next collapse

That it burns the shit back into the atmosphere.

Alfenhose@feddit.dk on 02 Nov 2023 03:03 collapse

Yes, but if it could provide as an alternative to digging up oil and gass, and get the energy needed to make the transformation from sun, wind or other sustainable sources. It could lower the amount of new CO2 being put into the atmosphere as well as work as a way to store excess energy from wind and sun.

SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz on 02 Nov 2023 03:43 collapse

Yeah, it would basically act as a battery except much better energy and power density, and faster ‘charging’.

The downside is invariably that round trip energy efficiency (electricity in vs electricity out) is somewhere between ‘much worse’ and ‘terrible’.

thisisawayoflife@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:40 next collapse

Burning it creates enormous clouds of Trioxin 2-4-5.

burntbutterbiscuits@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 03:32 collapse

Does trioxin perchance give one superpowers?

meco03211@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 04:28 next collapse

You have lymphoma.

thisisawayoflife@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:49 collapse

You’ll be able to feel yourself rot.

SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 02:49 collapse

When they say it’s efficient, they mean at not letting CO2 go, not in energy cost. Looks like step one is capturing it which is already energy intensive, and step 2 is reacting it with a strong base. So it takes a lot of stuff as input.

And they did this on a lab bench, not at scale in a plant.

grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 03:32 collapse

This and fusion, neck and neck.

luthis@lemmy.nz on 02 Nov 2023 03:37 next collapse

Guys, stop trying to break thermodynamics. You can’t. You know this.

pastermil@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 03:38 next collapse

You know what other methods converts carbon dioxide into energy? Planting potatoes!

luthis@lemmy.nz on 02 Nov 2023 04:23 collapse

That, and planting trees and never cutting them down. Although at least with potatoes you can make french fries… french wood sticks definitely aren’t so great in the air fryer

coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 06:53 next collapse

And alcohol. Which is also a fuel.

Plopp@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 07:25 collapse

It very much fuels my alcoholism!

pastermil@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2023 11:23 collapse

I know it fuels mine!

foenkyfjutschah@programming.dev on 02 Nov 2023 08:22 collapse

no, you can actually cut down grown biomass and process it to chemically stable biochar for soil improvement! for more potatoes for more fries! and a side of coleslaw.

WaterWaiver@aussie.zone on 02 Nov 2023 04:42 next collapse

Very misleading title. This is not an energy efficient process (what we need for energy storage), instead it has a high chemical yield.

RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2023 09:16 collapse

So we’re gonna spend a whole bunch of energy to capture carbon, then use even more to turn it into fuel, and then just burn it again? Yea sorry, I am not convinced.

Edit: Unless if course they propose it for grid balancing, like we talk about doing with hydrogen. In that case, I wanna know exact energy efficiency numbers and equipment cost.

lolcatnip@reddthat.com on 02 Nov 2023 23:28 collapse

Carbon neutral fuel is a good thing.