Posted on 02/25/2025 11:22:13 AM PST by Red Badger
A groundbreaking invention that produces fuel from thin air could transform atmospheric carbon dioxide from a threat into a potentially valuable resource.
Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, this solar-powered device operates without an external power source, making it ideal for remote, off-grid locations with limited energy access. Beyond fuel production, the technology can also generate hydrocarbon-based materials typically derived from fossil fuels, offering a sustainable alternative that reduces environmental harm.
“Instead of continuing to dig up and burn fossil fuels to produce the products we have come to rely on, we can get all the CO2 we need directly from the air and reuse it,” said lead researcher, Professor Erwin Reisner, in a statement.
Behind the Technology for Making Fuel out of Thin Air As the need for energy and the costs of using traditional fuels to generate that energy continue to increase, scientists are looking for innovative, more sustainable solutions.
Several novel approaches have emerged in recent years, including generating energy from “extreme” chemical enzymes, harboring electricity from Wi-Fi signals, or even a patented new process for capturing energy in space and transporting it to Earth, although many of these methods, though promising, are not yet available on a commercial basis.
The Cambridge team is taking a different approach. Inspired by how a plant makes fuel out of sunlight and water, the team has now developed a device that creates fuel out of thin air. The team’s prototype device works in two distinct stages in their prototype model.
The first stage occurs at night when specialized filters capture CO2 from the air, much like a plant does in the first stages of photosynthesis. The second stage of the solar-powered flow reactor occurs when sunlight strikes the device’s concentration mirror. According to the researchers, a semiconductor powder “absorbs the ultraviolet radiation to start a chemical reaction” that converts the captured CO2 into a synthesis gas (or “syngas”). A combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, syngas can be used as a precursor to traditional fuels or as its own combustible fuel.
Several scientists have begun to favor similar approaches because of the dual benefits of power generation and carbon capture. MIT and Harvard University engineers have unveiled an innovative process to transform atmospheric carbon dioxide into formate, which can also serve as a stand-alone, non-toxic fuel. Another artificial photosynthesis effort uses solar power to make fuel out of thin air by converting CO2 to methane. More recently, Cambridge researchers joined the University of California at Berkeley researchers to develop tiny copper flowers that convert CO2 into hydrocarbons that can make materials or fuel.
Why Solar-Powered Flow Reactor is Superior to Carbon Capture and Storage In the study outlining the technology, the researchers emphasized the significant benefits of their process over energy generation using fossil fuels. The team also notes that by capturing atmospheric CO2 without added energy input beyond the power of the sun, their device offers a powerful new approach to reducing the increasing levels of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere that doesn’t involve simply storing away the CO2 for future generations.
“Aside from the expense and the energy intensity, CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) provides an excuse to carry on burning fossil fuels, which is what caused the climate crisis in the first place,” said Reisner. “CCS is also a non-circular process, since the pressurized CO2 is, at best, stored underground indefinitely, where it’s of no use to anyone.”
“What if instead of pumping the carbon dioxide underground, we made something useful from it?” asks the study’s first author, Dr. Sayan Kar from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry. “CO2 is a harmful greenhouse gas, but it can also be turned into useful chemicals without contributing to global warming.”
The researchers say they are encouraged by their progress and are now working on converting the solar syngas created by their device into liquid fuels. They also hope to show the ease and benefits of scaling these devices since they are exclusively solar-powered.
“If we made these devices at scale, they could solve two problems at once: removing CO2 from the atmosphere and creating a clean alternative to fossil fuels,” said Kar. “CO2 is seen as a harmful waste product, but it is also an opportunity.”
The team is currently building a larger-scale version of the device that makes fuel out of thin air, with the first round of tests slated for the spring. If successful, the team believes there are no insurmountable technological barriers to implementing devices using their technology, only political ones.
“We can build a circular, sustainable economy – if we have the political will to do it,” Reisner said.
The study “Direct air capture of CO2 for solar fuel production in flow” was published in Nature Energy.
Instead of continuing to dig up and burn fossil fuels to produce the products we have come to rely on, we can get all the CO2 we need directly from the air and reuse it
We should be able to harvest hot air from any gathering of politicians.
Does this mean we get to cover the entire Erf in photosynthesizing solar panels?
Thank goodness. I was afraid we might leave a few square feet uncovered.
You’re one of the few people who could post a piece with that title that I’d read...
Interesting.
It sounds expensive to do it on an industrial scale.
So that only a few will be able to:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who got very confused as I read that title. Maybe "Breakthrough Solar-Powered System..." would have been more clear...
In Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series, the capital planet of the Galaxy was totally encased in a metal sphere, with limited access holes for entrance and exit.............
So.....is the semiconductor powder the actual fuel?
Tomorrow’s Headlines Today:
Perpetual Motion Machine Invented (Again)
When I see one of these “big breakthrough” energy articles, I always do a search for a dollar sign before reading. Guess how many dollar signs are in this one. That’s right, zero.
Sounds more like a catalyst................
Why build a machine to do what plants have been doing for FREE for billions of years.
Plants turned atmospheric carbon dioxide into trillions of tons of coal.
Plants turned atmospheric carbon dioxide into billions of trillions of tons limestone.
Why reinvent the wheel?
Plants turned atmospheric carbon dioxide into trillions of tons of FOOD!.................
If I recall correctly, the atmosphre of Mars is composed largely of Carbon Dioxide...
Sounds like a car engine I heard about in the 1970s.
But the powder sounds like the thing you will need to run down to the store to pickup in order to keep the house warm and the lights on.
CO2 is a plant nutrient.
And continue to do so.
And the higher the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere the more efficient they are at turning CO2 in to food.
The higher the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere the less water plants need to live and prosper. This means that if there is enough CO2 in the atmosphere that plants can begin to reclaim deserts.
Of course environmental wackos would probably think that is a bad thing because the loss of desert environments would be a change to the ecosystem and stress desert flora and fauna.
What plants do we have that survive cold weather well?
According to Elton John, it’s cold as hell on Mars.
Plant a LOT of them on Mars and wait a while. You’ll hava a “shirt-sleeve atmosphere.”
Bring a few comets in at a shallow re-entry angle, and you can have all the water you want —assuming the “Fountains Of The Deep” may be too hard to stimulate...
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