CO2 to Fuel

July 27, 2009

Selective Solar-Driven Reduction of CO2 to Methanol Using a Catalyzed p-GaP Based Photoelectrochemical Cell - Journal of the .

Here we have some research performed by one of our own, US, institutions of higher learning, and a respected one at that, confirming, as we've been reporting from other credible sources, that there are, indeed, cost-effective ways to capture the Carbon Dioxide by-product of our coal use, and to then convert it into valuable, much-needed, liquid transportation fuels.

The excerpt:

"Selective Solar-Driven Reduction of CO2 to Methanol Using a Catalyzed p-GaP Based Photoelectrochemical Cell

Emily E. Barton, David M. Rampulla and Andrew B. Bocarsly

[Unable to display image]Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130 (20), pp 6342–6344

DOI: 10.1021/ja0776327

Publication Date (Web): April 26, 2008

With rising atmospheric CO2 levels, there has been increasing interest in artificial photosynthetic schemes for converting this greenhouse gas into valuable fuels and small organics. Photoelectrochemical schemes for activating the inert CO2 molecule, however, operate at excessive overpotentials and thus do not convert actual light energy to chemical energy. Here we describe the selective conversion of CO2 to methanol at a p-GaP semiconductor electrode with a homogeneous pyridinium ion catalyst, driving the reaction with light energy to yield faradaic efficiencies near 100% at potentials well below the standard potential."

Methanol, as all should by now know, is an excellent liquid fuel in it's own right; and, it can, through at least one established and commercialized process, be converted into gasoline.