Convert carbon dioxide from air (at low temp) to methanol fuel — why not!
Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute have created fuel out of thin air — directly converting carbon dioxide from air into methanol at relatively low temperatures for the first time. While methanol can’t currently compete with oil, it will be there when we run out of oil, the researchers note.
The researchers bubbled air through an aqueous solution of pentaethylenehexamine (PEHA), adding a Ru-Macho-BH ruthenium catalyst to encourage hydrogen to latch onto the CO2 under pressure. They then heated the solution, converting 79 percent of the CO2 into methanol.
Though mixed with water, the resulting methanol can be easily distilled, said G.K. Surya Prakash, professor of chemistry and director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.