More Bang For The Buck
Posted on 12. Oct, 2008 by Brad in Uncategorized | Twitter: @bradhart |
In an effort to get more bang for the buck on large scale hydrocarbon burners a new approach to dealing with carbon dioxide is being taken in England.
Turning carbon dioxide into fuel – CNN.com
LONDON, England (CNN) — You might have thought that recycling is limited to paper, plastics and glass. Well, think again. A Californian company is developing a new technique for recycling carbon dioxide, or CO2, and turning it back into fuel.
Carbon Sciences are developing a “breakthrough technology” to make fuel out of waste CO2.Carbon Sciences believe they have made a breakthrough with their technology, which they say can transform CO2 back into basic fuel building blocks efficiently.
Their biocatalytic process converts CO2 into basic hydrocarbons – C1 (methane) C2 (ethane) and C3 (propane) — which can then be utilized to make higher-grade fuels like gasoline and jet fuel.
This looks to be a grand opportunity for the world, but I question whether or not American companies or the government has vision enough to see the opportunities to be had with this sort of investment. We seem to be a big country with lots of people who don’t mind pollution so long as it isn’t directly in their backyard.
“We don’t use high temperatures or high pressures, which is a huge advantage in terms of scaling the project up,” McLeish said.
In the future, McLeish envisages Carbon Sciences setting up shop next door to large CO2 emitters — coal, gas-fired plants and oil refineries — recycling concentrated streams of CO2 discharged from fossil fuel plants. Trying to take CO2 out of natural air just wouldn’t be worth it.
Don’t Miss“The beauty of this system is the whole infrastructure to distribute, to market and to use it is already in place,” he said.
The recycling process has five main stages. After rudimentary purification and regeneration of the biocatalysts, the CO2 is transferred to a Biocatalytic Reactor Matrix where mass quantities of biocatalysts function in a matrix of liquid reaction chambers breaking down CO2 and turning it into hydrocarbons.
We too have the infrastructure to put this in place, but once again I wonder if we aren’t too myopic to see beyond the dollar signs that no doubt will need to be invested in this sort of project. With $700 Billion plus going to bail out Wallstreet I wonder if Joe Sixpack has the vision to see beyond anything that might cost more money right now. Don’t get me wrong we still need to keep those companies afloat, but I wonder if we can still afford to invest in the future while saving our ass at the moment.
Post 4 of 100 of Brad’s Tiny World Scribefire Challenge.
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