Of course! Plastic trees capture CO2 from atmosphere; it's converted back into gasoline.

[wtmusic]

A branch from a plastic CO2-soaking tree.

Who can spot the gaping energy hole in this plan - and why the American Petroleum Institute should be putting big bucks behind it?

"Recycling has always meant reusing materials like glass or plastic, and reducing atmospheric carbon has traditionally meant cutting emissions, but what if we could combine the two to make combating climate change profitable by recycling carbon out of the atmosphere?"

<>

"But beyond just removing CO2 from the atmosphere, the new technology could also turn it into a valuable commodity. Carbon reduction methods often go hand-in-hand with an increase in costs, either through new equipment, or by assessing a fee on emissions. But what if captured carbon could become an economic benefit?

The new technology could serve the existing market for CO2, in enhanced oil recovery, to grow algae for biofuels, in plastic manufacturing, or even in soda – and it could also replace oil-based gasoline. 'You can add hydrogen to those (captured) carbon atoms and re-create gasoline,” said Klaus Lackner, a scientist at the Lenfest Center. “It has a zero net impact on the environment because you’re taking the carbon out that burning the gasoline will put in.'"

http://theenergycollective.com/energynow/63144/plastic-trees-use-biomimicry-convert-atmospheric-co2-green-gasoline?nocache=1#comment-21209

[NV Whino]

1. Why, we could plant our plastic Christmas trees!

Whata deal!

:rofl:

[Lint Head]

2. So cars can run on plastic plants? Wow. Old Time Pottery here I come!

[Kablooie]

3. I'm all for replacing that horrible Amazon forest with nice, clean plastic trees!

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. FWIW

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110811-quest-to-capture-carbon-dioxide

…

Lackner and his colleagues are known for their work on synthetic "trees" (actually, towers) with materials called "sorbents" that would absorb CO2 from the air. The machines would be far more efficient at doing the job than natural foliage—able to extract 1,000 times more CO2 than a tree of the same size. (For a look at Lackner's technology, see "http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/13/carbon-capture">The Big Idea: Scrubbing the Skies.")

The process does require energy, but Lackner says the CO2 captured in their process would exceed the CO2 released—even if the source of energy is the current makeup of the U.S. electricity grid (50 percent coal and 20 percent natural gas). (The amount released in that case would be about 20 percent of what is captured, Lackner says.) The benefits would increase if renewable energy were used.

There is a natural resource cost; water is needed to activate the process of the sorbent absorbing and releasing CO2. "Rather than heating the material, we make it moist," says Lackner. "For us, in a roundabout way, the water acts as a fuel." But Lackner says his team's synthetic trees would use about 100 times less water than ordinary trees.

Lackner's team is now working with San Francisco start-up http://www.kilimanjaroenergy.com/">Kilimanjaro Energy on demonstration plants. He, like Stechel, believes that how the CO2 is used after capture is crucial to consider when assessing the cost of the system. One strategy for addressing costs in the short-term, he notes, is to market the CO2 captured—sharing a location, for instance, with a greenhouse that would value a stream of low-concentration CO2.

…

[wtmusic]

5. Capturing it is the (relatively) easy part.

What to do with it when you get it is the problem.

Converting CO2 to any fuel is going to require more energy than burning that fuel would create, probably quite a bit more. Where does that energy come from?

[kristopher]

6. Algae use sunlight as an energy source...

...and the biggest constraint for algae biofuels is the fact that their most effective carbon feedstock has to date been the exhaust from coal plants.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Or, capture it in plastic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=307785&mesg_id=307923

[txlibdem]

8. This is THE solution, clean out the CO2 from the atmosphere from anywhere on the planet

The idea employs biomimicry by deploying small-scale units of “trees” to soak up more CO2 than real trees, wherever you might need them. “You can remove CO2 anywhere you want, and it can deal with emissions from anywhere else on the planet,” said Allen Wright, a scientist at the Lenfest Center. “There’s no real major discovery or invention that has to happen that would prevent us from deploying that technology tomorrow.”

http://theenergycollective.com/energynow/63144/plastic-trees-use-biomimicry-convert-atmospheric-co2-green-gasoline

Global climate change can be stopped in its tracks. There are plenty of places with enough sun to grow algae for bio-fuels using the collected CO2 for the soon-to-be dwindling number of liquid fuel burning vehicles in the world.

I have to scratch my head at the commenters who are against this idea.

[NickB79]

14. The part that pisses people off is where they want to convert the captured CO2 back to gas

And burn it in vehicles. You get no carbon reduction if you're simply cycling it rather than burying or sequestering it.

[NYC_SKP]

9. CO2 is a product of combustion. You can't turn it back into a fuel without a net energy loss.

I suspect the concept involves using solar energy to recombine the CO2 into some biofuel, but I think the statement is misleading.

x(

[wtmusic]

10. Bingo.

Somewhere people are paying big money for research like this without checking the bottom line first.

Even if they did use solar energy it's got to be less efficient than plain old PV panels.

:( :(

[kristopher]

11. Dupe deleted

[kristopher]

12. That doesn't track.

What is of interest are the characteristics of the energy carrier. There are applications where liquid fuels and their associated energy density are required. Those applications are far fewer than most people realize, but it is reasonable to do research developing the technologies that will be required - and that most definitely includes any improvements in methods for efficiently extracting CO2 from the atmosphere for use as a feedstock in whatever process turns out to be most efficient.

[hatrack]

13. Sounds like CCS concepts in which C is reinjected into oil fields . . .

. . . tuh git MORE AWL!!! YEE-HAH!!!!