United States Patent: 4427508
We've documented in our reports that some scattered groups of scientists around the world, in Singapore, Israel and Switzerland, for instance; and, even some in the United States, at our Sandia, Los Alamos and Brookhaven National Laboratories, have not only been developing ways in which Carbon Dioxide can be profitably recycled into valuable hydrocarbons, but, basing those methods of CO2 conversion on the use of freely-available environmental, renewable energy.
We've also documented, and will document further, that some private corporations, including oil producing companies and oil industry service companies, and United States defense contractors, such as United Technologies and Hamilton Standard, have been developing similar technologies; though the technologies arising from the DOD research center mostly on the unpalatable use of nuclear power to drive the CO2 collection and conversion.
We've suggested to you, and remain personally convinced, that any "push" towards the concept of Geologic Sequestration in old oil fields, that is, the "storage" of CO2 in natural petroleum reservoirs, all accomplished at the expense of both the Coal industry and the consumers of Coal-based electrical power, is a veiled attempt, by the petroleum industry, to actually "steal" Carbon Dioxide, so that they will have it available for later conversion into hydrocarbons when the natural petroleum does run dry.
Herein, via a United States Patent that's a quarter-century old, we submit further evidence contributing to our suspicions. Big Oil has not only figured out how to convert Carbon Dioxide into liquid fuel, but knows how to use cheap, environmental energy to get the job done.
Comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 4,427,508 - Light Driven Photocatalytic Process
Date: January, 1984
Inventor: Norman Lichtin, MA
Assignee: Atlantic Richfield Company, CA
Abstract: A method for the light driven photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide or the bicarbonate ion to one or more compounds which comprises contacting silicon with the carbon dioxide and/or bicarbonate ion in the absence of separate physical electrolyte and electrodes, and conducting said contacting in the presence of light.
Claims: A method for the light driven photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (to other compounds, and, wherein) the energy of reduction is essentially supplied by ... light (and) wherein said light is one of artificial light, sunlight, or a combination thereof.
(Compounds produced)are carbon monoxide, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, esters, and carboxylic acids having from 1 to 2 carbon atoms per molecule (and include) carbon monoxide, methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, and methane.
The ... hydrogen containing material is water.
Background: Heretofore, the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide in the presence of water into various organic compounds such as formaldehyde and methanol has been accomplished using various chemical compounds such as titanium dioxide, tungsten trioxide, lead oxide, iron oxide, calcium titanate, silicon carbide, and the like. ... This photocatalytic process merely employs a catalytic material, preferably, dispersed in a carrier liquid for better carbon dioxide contacting purposes. The material to be reduced such as carbon dioxide, is brought into contact with the catalyst using light as a source of the energy of reduction.
Summary: (Silicon) does in fact act as a catalyst in a light driven photocatalytic process for the reduction of carbon dioxide to certain organic compounds.
There is provided, according to this invention, a method for the light driven photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide or the bicarbonate ion to at least one organic compound which comprises contacting silicon (elemental silicon) with at least one of carbon dioxide and the bicarbonate ion in the presence of light so that the energy of reduction is essentially supplied by said light."
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In other words, using a "catalyst", silicon, which we can make, basically, from dirt, we can use sunlight to convert the Carbon Dioxide coming out of our Coal Country smoke stacks into Methane and Methanol - either of which, as we've documented, can then be further processed to generate Gasoline and Plastics.
Methane, moreover, has the special capacity, according to Penn State University, and others, to be reacted with even more Carbon Dioxide, in "bi-reforming" and "tri-reforming" processes, to synthesize even more hydrocarbons.