The big question mark over gasoline from air [View all]

[ROBROX]

12:10 22 October 2012 by Paul Marks

In a shipping container on a British industrial park, not far from where George Stephenson launched the world's first steam railway in 1825, another transport revolution might be beginning. Every day the machinery inside produces half a liter of purified gasoline. It sounds humdrum until you realize one thing: the only raw material used is air.

Last week, Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS), a company in Stockton, UK, revealed the first successful demonstration of an idea that dates back to the oil crisis of the 1970s: that carbon, hydrogen and oxygen can be plucked from carbon dioxide and water in air to be converted into methanol and then morphed into gasoline.

However, amidst the headlines, some media coverage overlooked the key point: the energy efficiency of the process has yet to be demonstrated. This matters because the technique uses electricity for key stages. It should not require more energy input than is gleaned from burning the fuel it produces.

The big idea is to capture atmospheric CO2 and turn it into fuel so there's no net increase in CO2 from cars and trucks fueled by such gasoline. As long as the process is powered by renewable electricity sources such as solar, wind or tidal, using the gasoline is carbon neutral.



http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22407-the-big-question-mark-over-gasoline-from-air.html