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Recycling carbon dioxide: U of T researchers efficiently reduce climate-warming CO₂ into … fuels
http://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/recycling-carbon-dioxide-u-t-researchers-efficiently-reduce-climate-warming-co2-building-blocks-fuels/[font face=Serif]August 3, 2016 | Marit Mitchell
[font size=5]Recycling carbon dioxide: U of T researchers efficiently reduce climate-warming CO₂ into building blocks for fuels[/font]
[font size=3]Turning carbon dioxide into stored energy sounds like science fiction: researchers have long tried to find simple ways to convert this greenhouse gas into fuels and other useful chemicals. Now, a group of researchers led by Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) has found a more efficient way, through the wonders of nanoengineering.
Drs. Min Liu and Yuanjie Pang, along with a team of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in U of T Engineering, have developed a technique powered by renewable energies such as solar or wind. The catalyst takes climate-warming carbon-dioxide (CO₂ ) and converts it to carbon-monoxide (CO), a useful building block for carbon-based chemical fuels, such as methanol, ethanol and diesel.
“CO₂ reduction is an important challenge due to inertness of the molecule,” says Liu. “We were looking for the best way to both address mounting global energy needs and help the environment,” adds Pang. “If we take CO₂ from industrial flue emissions or from the atmosphere, and use it as a reagent for fuels, which provide long-term storage for green energy, we’re killing two birds with one stone.”
…
When they applied a small electrical bias to the array of nanoneedles, they produced a high electric field at the sharp tips of the needles. This helps attract CO₂, speeding up the reduction to CO, with a rate faster than any catalyst previously reported. This represents a breakthrough in selectivity and efficiency which brings CO₂ reduction closer to the realm of commercial electrolysers. The team is now working on the next step: skipping the CO and producing more conventional fuels directly.
…
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature19060[font size=5]Recycling carbon dioxide: U of T researchers efficiently reduce climate-warming CO₂ into building blocks for fuels[/font]
[font size=3]Turning carbon dioxide into stored energy sounds like science fiction: researchers have long tried to find simple ways to convert this greenhouse gas into fuels and other useful chemicals. Now, a group of researchers led by Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) has found a more efficient way, through the wonders of nanoengineering.
Drs. Min Liu and Yuanjie Pang, along with a team of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in U of T Engineering, have developed a technique powered by renewable energies such as solar or wind. The catalyst takes climate-warming carbon-dioxide (CO₂ ) and converts it to carbon-monoxide (CO), a useful building block for carbon-based chemical fuels, such as methanol, ethanol and diesel.
“CO₂ reduction is an important challenge due to inertness of the molecule,” says Liu. “We were looking for the best way to both address mounting global energy needs and help the environment,” adds Pang. “If we take CO₂ from industrial flue emissions or from the atmosphere, and use it as a reagent for fuels, which provide long-term storage for green energy, we’re killing two birds with one stone.”
…
When they applied a small electrical bias to the array of nanoneedles, they produced a high electric field at the sharp tips of the needles. This helps attract CO₂, speeding up the reduction to CO, with a rate faster than any catalyst previously reported. This represents a breakthrough in selectivity and efficiency which brings CO₂ reduction closer to the realm of commercial electrolysers. The team is now working on the next step: skipping the CO and producing more conventional fuels directly.
…
…[/font][/font]
9 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
PS: Can't believe I'm the first to rec or comment on this! 
There are so many unrealistic utopian ideas being floated around that I tend to flip into skeptic mode as my automatic default. Maybe there's something to it. I'll retract my objection for now and adopt a wait-and-see. 