Petrol from air - IMechE endorsed..
Discussion
http://www.imeche.org/news/archives/12-10-15/UK_en...
Apologies if repost, I did try a search but the phone kept crashing.
They say it's based on known chemistry, just applied as a process. At the moment it's too expensive, but throw in renewable power and industrial scales......
Game changer...?
Apologies if repost, I did try a search but the phone kept crashing.
They say it's based on known chemistry, just applied as a process. At the moment it's too expensive, but throw in renewable power and industrial scales......
Game changer...?
link said:
The fuel produced can be used in any regular petrol tank and, if renewable energy is used to provide the electricity, the process and end product are completely carbon neutral.
please let this work, please let this be viable, please please pleaselink said:
What was just a smart idea in the minds of a handful of academics a few years ago is now a proven, engineered method for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and making a useful product. The beauty of petrol from air is that you are effectively recycling CO2 and avoiding further transport emissions.
please let this work, please let this be viable, please please please
I saw this a couple of years ago and it needed a lot of energy to make a little bit of fuel if I remember right...
but could get more efficient with development I suppose, I think they were running it from solar power in the desert on the program I saw, but it was a while ago and my memory is hazy
but could get more efficient with development I suppose, I think they were running it from solar power in the desert on the program I saw, but it was a while ago and my memory is hazy
_Al_ said:
They say it's based on known chemistry, just applied as a process. At the moment it's too expensive, but throw in renewable power and industrial scales......
Therein lies the problem. There's a pretty solid lower bound on how much energy you'll need to make a unit of petrol from a unit of air, economies of scale will help a bit but not that much. And I can't see renewable energy (or indeed any energy) becoming cheap anytime soon. Quite the opposite in fact.This is only going to find a role once eau de dinosaur becomes too expensive to extract at all, and then only in limited quantities where electric power simply will not do. Whether ICE cars will still have a following at that point is debatable.
all a bit of a fraud really...
it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point? (as in way worse than current battery tech) the only upside is that in terms of energy density, it's much higher (same as Petrol is now compared to batteries)
Yes, it's all very interesting, but it's of more use as carbon capture than anything else.
End of the day, the expression no such thing as a free lunch springs to mind
it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point? (as in way worse than current battery tech) the only upside is that in terms of energy density, it's much higher (same as Petrol is now compared to batteries)
Yes, it's all very interesting, but it's of more use as carbon capture than anything else.
End of the day, the expression no such thing as a free lunch springs to mind
"Air is blown into a tower containing a mist of sodium hydroxide which reacts with the carbon dioxide in the air, forming sodium carbonate.
Electricity is then passed through the sodium carbonate to release the carbon dioxide, which is stored.
A dehumidifier in the tower condenses water from the air.
The water is then split into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current.
The carbon dioxide and hydrogen are reacted together to create Syngas, which is then processed to form methanol.
The methanol is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol."
That's about the most expensive and wasteful way to fuel a car.
Electricity is then passed through the sodium carbonate to release the carbon dioxide, which is stored.
A dehumidifier in the tower condenses water from the air.
The water is then split into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current.
The carbon dioxide and hydrogen are reacted together to create Syngas, which is then processed to form methanol.
The methanol is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol."
That's about the most expensive and wasteful way to fuel a car.
Scuffers said:
all a bit of a fraud really...
it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point?
To make sure we can continue to enjoy our ICE-engined cars once eau-de-dinosaur (lovely phrase btw) has become ludicrously expensive to pull out of the sand/ground.it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point?
When (and note the word, it is coming) fusion power is eventually made practical you can count on huge changes in the energy markets, making concerns about energy cost distinctly secondary to its practical application.
Krikkit said:
Scuffers said:
all a bit of a fraud really...
it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point?
To make sure we can continue to enjoy our ICE-engined cars once eau-de-dinosaur (lovely phrase btw) has become ludicrously expensive to pull out of the sand/ground.it take more energy to create that it can 'store', so what's the point?
When (and note the word, it is coming) fusion power is eventually made practical you can count on huge changes in the energy markets, making concerns about energy cost distinctly secondary to its practical application.
are you prepared to spend £100+/litre for fuel?
the point is, if you want to make methanol, (which is what they are doing) there are way easier/cheaper/greener ways to do it
the us millitary seawater to jetfuel project sounds a bit more believable and maybee you can get diesel's to run on it.
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/nav...
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/nav...
There are more efficient ways to do it, using solar energy. There's artificial photosynthesis which is currently being worked on, uses sunlight and a catalyst to turn CO2 into CO, which can then be converted into liquid fuel using the Fisher-Tropsch process.
There's also growing big tanks of algae to turn into biodiesel- while conventional biofuels use up land that could be used to grow food, you could stick a tank of algae on a roof in the middle of a city.
There's also growing big tanks of algae to turn into biodiesel- while conventional biofuels use up land that could be used to grow food, you could stick a tank of algae on a roof in the middle of a city.
For all the "pigs might fly" folk, its definitely real:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-222...
Thing is, I remember seeing this on a James May program a few years ago where they were harnessing the sun in the desert with mirrors to get the huge amounts of energy needed, for free. I did wonder why it still hasnt caught on...oil industry leaning on it perhaps?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-222...
Thing is, I remember seeing this on a James May program a few years ago where they were harnessing the sun in the desert with mirrors to get the huge amounts of energy needed, for free. I did wonder why it still hasnt caught on...oil industry leaning on it perhaps?
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