Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #896673
Well more than a year ago, we made report of USDOE-financed Carbon Dioxide recycling developments, targeted on the production of the nearly-precious Methanol that had been undertaken for the USDOE by Ohio's University of Akron.
In that report, USDOE/Akron Recycle CO2 | Research & Development, we were taught by the University that we could, as a result of their work under USDOE Contract DE-FG26-99FT40579, which ended October, 2001, use renewable energy resources to collect Carbon Dioxide and then productively convert it, recycle it, into Methanol.
So encouraging were their results, apparently, that the USDOE engaged the same scientists in additional work, to further improve their CO2-recycling technology.
As we learn via excerpts from the initial and following links to:
View Document or Access Individual Pages; DOI:10.2172/896673 Contract: FG26-01NT41294
Title: CO2 Sequestration and Recycle by Photosynthesis
Date: September, 2005; Report Issued: February, 2006
Author: Steven Chuang
Research Organization: University Of Akron; Sponsor: USDOE Contract: FG26-01NT41294
Abstract: Hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions of CO2 and H2O over various catalysts has been studied by UV-visible light. The quantum efficiencies suggest that Pd/TiO2 sol gel exhibits the highest activity for hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions.
The information from this study can lead to a better understanding of the nature of the catalysts and photoreaction processes, which might provide the information to develop better catalysts and reaction process for the hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions of CO2 and H2O.
The objective of this study is to determine the activity of the photocatalytic reaction of CO2 and H2O over Pd, Cu, and Rh based catalysts ... .
Results of this study show that the Pd/TiO2 solgel catalyst gave the highest activity for the photosynthesis of methane and methanol form CO2/H2O. However, the activity for this synthesis reaction is about 3 or 4 orders of magnitude lower than those of conventional catalysis.
(Note: As immediately above, they already know that sunlight can be used to convert CO2 into Methane and Methanol, and, that there are better catalysts available than the ones they used in these experiments.)
Comparison of photocatalytic oxidation and reduction shows that the photocatalytic oxidation rate is at least two orders of magnitude higher than the photocatalytic reduction on TiO2-based catalysts. Development of a novel approach for the selective inhibition of the oxidation process is needed to accelerate the overall rate of the photosynthesis.
The photocatalytic activity of the CO2/H2O reaction for the production of hydrocarbons and oxygenates was studied on a number of catalysts ... ."
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First, "oxygenates", as above, can include both Methanol and Ethanol.
We keep our excerpts brief since the bulk of the report is given over to techno-speak and formulaic presentations that are nothing but gibberish to we un-initiated, left-in-the-dark peasants.
The point, however, is:
Our United States Department of Energy knows how, by utilizing energy from sunlight, to convert Carbon Dioxide, recovered from whatever source, into both Methane and Methanol, concurrently.
And, as in: Standard Oil 1944 CO2 + CH4 + H20 = Aviation Fuel | Research & Development | News; we have officially known, for well-more than half a century, that:
Once we have Methane, as herein generated as a by-product in the conversion of Carbon Dioxide into the nearly-precious liquid fuel, Methanol, we can react that CO2-derived Methane with even more Carbon Dioxide, and, from that CO2-recycling reaction, produce high-quality, high-performance liquid hydrocarbon fuels; liquid fuels of such high quality that they can meet the demanding requirements of aviation use.
Methanol, as we have many times explained, can, through known and commercialized technologies, such as ExxonMobil's "MTG"(r), methanol-to-gasoline process, be further converted into standard types of automotive gasoline.
And, according to our own US Department of Energy and the University of Akron, herein, all of that can be accomplished starting only with Sunlight, Water and Carbon Dioxide.