Culture|Garage

Yep, you read that right- carbon dioxide could very well be the fuel of the future. “Aha,” says you, “but how?” Good question.

F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic are scientists employed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory who have developed this idea to help stem the tide of rising petroleum costs and environmental concerns. The process involves using potassium carbonate to absorb the carbon dioxide from air. The carbon dioxide then would be put through a “chemical reaction” that would produce ethanol, petroleum or jet fuel, to name a few. The process utilizes existing technology and does not violate any laws of physics, making the proposal, named “green freedom,” extremely attractive for future fuel production.

The only issue confronting the proposal is the question of the amount of energy that is needed to conduct the CO2-to-fuel process. The scientists involved in the project say that to run a refinery using this process, a dedicated power plant would be needed. Their plan is to use a nuclear power plant to make the proposal economically viable, while keeping residual pollution to a minimum. According to their research, the market price for a gallon of gas would fall (ideally) to $3.40 a gallon, at a production cost of $1.40 per gallon. Other scientists and research see promise in this proposal- the only real hurdles will be the power plant and the nuclear issue, as well as the sheer number of plants needed to produce the fuel.

via: New York Times

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