The goal of developing alternative energy is twofold: to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels because we will run out of them eventually, and to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that we dump into the air.
CO2 acts as a greenhouse gas, trapping heat against the Earth. It is one of the major culprits in global climate change. However, even as we turn to alternative energy sources like wind or solar, we still have a lot of CO2 in the atmosphere, and we need to get rid of it to turn back the damage we’ve already done.
A team at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was working on a way to convert CO2 into something useful when they did exactly that. They developed a system using copper and carbon, easily obtained materials, which converts CO2 into ethanol, an alternative, renewable fuel. Best of all, the process works at room temperature, which makes it easy to start and stop, and reasonably cheap.
The team is exploring the technology further in the hopes of making it efficient enough for industrial use. This could be a huge step in the right direction. By converting CO2 into ethanol, either in the atmosphere or while it’s being created, we get more fuel out of the process. This, in turn, reduces our reliance on fossil fuels and reduces pollution, which slows the effects of climate change. It’s a win-win.
The carbon and copper method the researchers discovered would allow us to create ethanol without using as much arable land (it’s usually made from corn) and without affecting food prices. Plus, burning ethanol produces CO2, which could subsequently be turned into more ethanol. This process may not be exactly carbon neutral, but it’s a huge step toward that goal and an excellent way to make up for shortfalls from solar or wind energy production.