Turning Carbon Dioxide Into Airplane Fuel
Scientists from Oxford University found a way to transform carbon dioxide into jet fuel possibly opening the door for carbon-neutral air-travel.
Image by Bob Williams from Pixabay
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The air-travel industry is one of the largest producers of carbon emissions. That’s why for many years development with the goal of lower or even completely getting rid of their carbon footprint. Sadly, the development of green technologies for air-travel were lacking so they were mostly just planting trees and investing in sources of renewable energy.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
But that doesn’t mean development towards finding alternative, more ecological fuels weren’t happening. This led to the development of airplanes that used hydrogen as fuel or the not so successful electric airplanes.
The discovery of the scientists from Oxford University can be simplified as a reversal of the combustion process as carbon dioxide is transformed into fuel in the iron-based catalyst. What needs to be said – the process has been so far tested only in laboratory conditions and on small scales.
But the experts are convinced that it will work in real-world conditions as well and will be the major turning point for the future of commercial air-travel and that this process could help slow down climate change while using the existing carbon-based fuel infrastructure.
Seemingly Simple Process
Try to remember your chemistry classes. Maybe you’ll recall that during the burning of carbohydrates carbon dioxide, water, and energy is created. The discovery essentially reverses the process through something called the organic combustion method (OCM).
A solution of citric acid, hydrogen, and the catalyst made from iron, manganese, and potassium get heated to 350° Celsius. When carbon dioxide is added to the solution liquid fuel that is can be used to power jet engines. The test was performed in a stainless steel reactor that had the size to only create a few grams of the fuel.
Nonetheless, scientists are convinced that enlarging the whole mechanism should be cheaper than other processes used for transforming carbon dioxide and that the devices could be installed near factories where they would gather and transform all carbon dioxide emissions.
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