A solar-powered reaction turns a greenhouse gas into a
valuable raw material.
Chemists have shown that it is possible to use solar energy, paired with the right catalyst, to convert carbon dioxide into a raw material for making
a wide range of products, including plastics and gasoline.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), recently demonstrated that light absorbed and converted into electricity by a silicon
electrode can help drive a reaction that converts carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. Carbon monoxide is a valuable commodity chemical
that is widely used to make plastics and other products, says Clifford Kubiak, professor of chemistry at UCSD. It is also a key ingredient in a
process for making synthetic fuels, including syngas (a mixture largely of carbon monoxide and hydrogen), methanol, and gasoline.
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At least at first, such a process will not make a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere--that would take quite large-scale
operations, Kubiak says. But "any chemical process that you can develop that uses CO2 as a feedstock, rather than having it be an end product, is
probably worth doing." He adds that "if chemical manufacturers are going to make millions of pounds of plastics anyway, why not make them from
greenhouse gases rather than making tons of greenhouse gases in the process?"
It is very promising to see us be able to turn a negative into a positive. This is what industry should be designed around.
If we could revive the Thomas Gold/abiotic oil theory, energy needs start looking a little further away.