30 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide are put into the atmosphere by humans each year, and there was a cool story in yesterday’s Science Times about a not-so-new solution to that problem. Green Freedom, the work of two scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, seeks to make the input-output nature of carbon emissions a closed circuit.
By capturing carbon dioxide currently loose in the atmosphere (blowing it across a liquid solution of potassium carbonate and treating it chemically) then reforming it into fuel, the project aims to convert a destructive byproduct into a raw resource available for the production of reusable fuels to be used in any gas-dependant vehicle.
The article does a great job of framing the challenges a project like this faces, so check it out.
One big issue to pay attention to is energy as a zero-sum entity. It has to come from somewhere. Proponents of biofuels, for example, still must contend with the fact that current methods of manufacturing ethanol require more energy than would be used without changing from gasoline in the first place.
These scientists, like many, are off to a great start, but it will be interesting to see if they are able to get enough people behind the banner of nuclear energy to see an outfit like this come together.
In the meantime, a cool idea and some food for thought.
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