We trust that you will recall our report from early last summer, wherein we documented that the German engineering giant, Siemens AG, had, in the person of a US scientist in their employ, applied for a United States Patent on technology that would harness environmental energy to capture Carbon Dioxide, and then convert that Carbon Dioxide into a variety of products, including Methane, Methanol and Gasoline.
As now accessible via:
Germany Seeks US CO2 Recycling Patent | Research & Development; that report documents:
"US Patent Application 2009/0289227A1 - Production of Fuel Utilizing Waste Carbon Dioxide; November, 2009; Inventor: Bruce Rising, Florida; Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Germany;
that application only confirmed the potentials for the productive recycling of Carbon Dioxide embodied in an actual United States Patent that was awarded, for related CO2 technology, earlier this year, as seen in:
March, 2011, CO2-to-Methanol US Patent Awarded | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,906,559 - Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol and/or Dimethyl Ether; Date: March 15, 2011; Inventors: George Olah and Surya Prakash; Assignee: University of Southern California; Abstract: The invention discloses a method of converting carbon dioxide to methanol and/or dimethyl ether using any methane source or natural gas consisting of a combination of steam and dry reforming ... with subsequent conversion of the CO and H2 mixture exclusively to methanol and/or dimethyl ether".
And, in case you're unfamiliar with Siemens AG, and uncertain why they would be interested in developing technologies which would, as they do specify, utilize environmental energy to collect CO2 and then convert that CO2 into "gasoline products", we refer you to a link to one of their own web sites, wherein we see:
"In today's complex power market Siemens is a strong partner capable of providing you with competitive power plant solutions to improve the profitability of your business (including) Gas-turbine-driven power plants, simple cycle and combined cycle plants; Coal- and oil-fired steam-turbine-driven power plant solutions; Gasification, synthesis gas preparation and combined cycle for efficient, low-emissions coal-based power generation; Carbon Capture Solutions: CO2 removal from synthesis gas or flue gas from fossil-fired combustion plants; (and) Photovoltaic Power Plants - PV is among the fastest growing power generation technologies. Siemens provides tailor-made utility-scale PV power plants from a single source."
And, herein, we learn that our United States Government very recently agreed that Siemens AG had, indeed, devised yet another way, distinct from the above University of Southern California process of US Patent 7,906,559, in which Carbon Dioxide, recovered from whatever source, could be efficiently recovered, and then be converted, through the use of environmentally-derived energy, into a variety of needed hydrocarbon fuels.
We must note and caution, however, that several close reads of the full Disclosure of the United States Patent we enclose in this dispatch, by us and by one of our consultants, indicates that there might be errors in wording which have been missed by both our US Patent examiners and the Siemens proof readers.
We conclude, based on our understanding of it all, that, in places, the words "Methane" and "Methanol" have been mistakenly interchanged, one for the other.
Or, perhaps, the Disclosure itself has been over-condensed. There are, in addition, other, as we perceive them, ambiguities.
The use of both Methane and Methanol could certainly be valid, however, as we explain in comment, following and inserted within excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"United States Patent 7,989,507 - Production of Fuel Materials Utilizing Waste Carbon Dioxide
Date: August 2, 2011
Inventor: Bruce Rising, Florida
Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Germany
Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for utilizing CO2 waste comprising recovering carbon dioxide from an industrial process that produces a waste stream comprising carbon dioxide in an amount greater than an amount of carbon dioxide present in starting materials for the industrial process. The method further includes producing hydrogen using a renewable energy resource and producing a hydrocarbon material utilizing the produced hydrogen and the recovered carbon dioxide.
Claims: A process for utilizing CO2 waste comprising: recovering carbon dioxide from an industrial process that produces a waste stream comprising carbon dioxide in an amount greater than an amount of carbon dioxide present in starting materials for the industrial process; producing hydrogen using a renewable energy resource; and producing methane utilizing the produced hydrogen and the recovered carbon dioxide.
(And) wherein the producing hydrogen is done by electrolysis of water using electricity generated from the renewable energy resource, and wherein the renewable energy resource comprises wind or solar energy.
(We interrupt to remind you, that, as seen in:
Mountaineer Wind Energy Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; which tells us that: "Mountaineer Wind Energy Center is a wind farm ... in Preston and Tucker counties in the US state of West Virginia. When it came online in December 2002, Mountaineer was the first wind farm in West Virginia, and the largest east of the Mississippi River"; and, in:
H2 for Coal Hydrogenation from Coal Gasification By-Product | Research & Development; concerning: United States Patent 4,693,883 - Ammonia Utilization Process; 1987; Assignee: Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago; In a process for gasification of organic carbonaceous materials ... the improvement comprising: separating ammonia from product gas of said gasifier ... and recycling said gaseous ammonia to said hydrogen forming gasifier (to form) a substantial amount of hydrogen and nitrogen from said ammonia (and)wherein said organic carbonaceous (is) coal";
we do, indeed, not only have such "renewable energy resource"s available to us for "producing hydrogen" in one of the hearts of US Coal Country, but other, perhaps intriguiging, options, as well.)
The process ... wherein the producing hydrogen further comprises producing oxygen as a by-product and using the oxygen in a downstream process.
(As illustrated in our earlier report:
Chicago Hydrogen from H2O | Research & Development; about: "USP 4,793,910 - Photoelectrochemical Cell for Unassisted Photocatalysis; 1988; Gas Research Institute, Chicago; Abstract: A multielectrode photoelectrochemical cell ... which ... contains two bipolar electrode panels for photoelectrochemical reactions such as water photolysis to produce H2 (and) O2";
pure, and useful, Oxygen would be the by-product of generating Hydrogen from Water via electrolysis.)
The process ... further comprising using electricity produced from the renewable energy resource to reduce an amount of carbon dioxide to a first amount of carbon monoxide and oxygen.
(As seen in another of our earlier reports:
Standard Oil Electrolyzes CO2 to Carbon Monoxide | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,668,349 - Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2; 1987; The Standard Oil Company; Abstract: A process for the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide comprises immersing a transition metal complex with square planar geometry into an aqueous or nonaqueous solution which has been acidified to a (specified) hydrogen ion concentration ... , adding the carbon dioxide, applying an electrical potential of from about -0.8 volts to about -1.5 volts ... , and reducing the carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide";
there are some very efficient, low-power ways to use "electricity ... to reduce ... carbon dioxide to ... carbon monoxide"; and, certainly, the Siemens process herein, using electricity to break both Water, H2O, and Carbon Dioxide apart, seems little different from others, similar, we have already documented, as in:
More USDOE CO2 "Syntrolysis" | Research & Development; concerning: "Co-Electrolysis of Steam and Carbon Dioxide for Production of Syngas; 2007; Idaho National Laboratory, USDOE; An experimental study (of) simultaneously electrolyzing steam and carbon dioxide for the direct production of syngas.")
(And) wherein at least one of the first amount or the second amount of the carbon monoxide and the produced hydrogen are converted to methanol via a catalytic process.
(And) wherein the waste stream comprises an exhaust gas.
(We must interrupt to remind you of our cautionary note in our introductory comments. The above statement that "the carbon monoxide and the produced hydrogen are converted to methanol", might, based on further claims, be corrected to read "converted to methane". And, certainly, there are any number of processes wherein blends of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen can be converted into either Methanol or Methane, as we have documented in many previous reports concerning the catalytic processing of synthesis gas.)
The process ... further comprising converting the produced methane into hydrogen and carbon monoxide and using the hydrogen and the carbon monoxide to produce methanol.
(Again, the process is not really well-explained, and it could involve first using electricity to convert Carbon Dioxide and H2O into Methane, as is certainly feasible, as seen in:
Chicago Recycles CO2 to Methane | Research & Development; about: "US Patent 4,609,440 - Synthesis of Methane; 1986; Gas Research Institute, Chicago; A method is described for electrochemically reducing carbon dioxide to form methane;
and/or into Methanol, as in:
USDOE 1976 Atmospheric CO2 to Methanol | Research & Development; concerning the: "United States Patent 3,959,094 - Electrolytic Synthesis of Methanol from CO2; 1976; The USA as represented by the USDOE; A method and system for synthesizing methanol from the CO2 ...using electric power";
with subsequent processing of both into, and through, synthesis gas, to produce, ultimately and finally, more Methanol, and, as will be seen following, "gasoline" and other "fuel materials".
Again, it is to us somewhat ambiguous. But, in any case, it is not uncommon, odd as it might seem, for corrections to made to United States Patents which have already been issued. And, we suspect that corrections and clarifications might be forthcoming with our subject. The described and disclosed processes are nonetheless valid.)
Background and Field: The present invention relates to a method and system for producing fuel materials from waste carbon dioxide using renewable resources, and more particularly to a method and system for producing fuel materials from carbon dioxide recovered from a waste stream of an industrial process and hydrogen produced using renewable energy resources.
The need to control the world's greenhouse gases is a principle focus of the world today. Greenhouse gases, i.e. carbon dioxide, may be emitted into the atmosphere through natural processes and human activities, such as the ... manufacture of cement.
The ... present invention (is) a novel method and system for utilizing waste carbon dioxide for the production of useful fuel materials. In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a novel, efficient, and economical method and system for producing useful fuel materials, i.e. methane, methanol carbon monoxide, syngas, gasoline products, and/or other fuel materials, from carbon dioxide recovered from carbon dioxide-containing waste streams via hydrogen produced by renewable energy resources.
In this way, the method and system of the present invention are capable of utilizing waste carbon dioxide to generate substantial amounts of useful fuel materials, as well as reducing the amount of carbon dioxide transmitted into the atmosphere and conserving conventional fossil fuels.
As a result, the typical problems, difficulties and expense associated with carbon dioxide disposal may also be reduced or eliminated. Typical carbon disposal costs include storage costs and the cost of deep-well injection or other disposal techniques.
(In other words, we consumers of Coal-based electrical power wouldn't have to pay to have our Carbon Dioxide collected and shipped to West Texas, where it would be pumped down a nearly-depleted oil well and, while being so "geologically sequestered", push out residual petroleum, and profits, for the owners of that oil well.)
In addition, the present invention takes advantage of the remote locations of both renewable energy power generation plants, i.e. wind farms, and carbon dioxide producing industrial plants, such as power plants. The close proximity of plants where hydrogen may be generated from renewable energy resources and plants where carbon dioxide may be captured from waste streams along with the use of materials produced by each, reduces storage and transport costs in the production of the valuable fuels according to the claimed invention. "
-------------------
We resist the temptation to extrapolate further, since there are, as noted above, what our admittedly-limited faculties perceive to be significant ambiguities which do require clarification.
That aside, the fact remains that our own United States Government herein certifies the claims, that:
"CO2 waste" can be recovered from "from an industrial process", and then be converted, "using", in part at least, "electricity produced from (a) renewable energy resource" into such seemingly-useful things as "methane, methanol, carbon monoxide, syngas, gasoline products, and/or other fuel materials".
Far, far past time, ain't it, that our genuine experts began to examine, and to implement, such technologies, rather than wasting time, and money, on greedy taxation schemes like Cap & Trade, and, on venal exploitations of our vital Coal, and Coal-use, industries, and their customers, like the mandated Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in nearly-depleted natural petroleum reservoirs?
Carbon Dioxide, as it is emitted in only a very small way, relative to natural sources such as volcanoes, from our varied and productive uses of Coal, is, as herein certified by our own US Government, a valuable raw material resource which we can, using freely-available environmental energy, harvest, and, then, convert into a seemingly wide variety of "valuable fuels".