More research from Japan confirming that Carbon Dioxide can be a raw material for the synthesis of valuable organic chemicals and hydrocarbons, which would include, one infers, the precursors, at least, of liquid fuels.
Some important points in this study are that the CO2 conversions were evaluated, it seems, with a direct focus on their applicability to flue gasses - as in the stacks of coal-fired power plants and coal-to-liquid conversion facilities, where CO2 could be directly recovered in more concentrated, more valuable forms; with emissions problems thus obviated.
The excerpted summary:
"Titre du document / Document title
Chemical conversion of carbon dioxide by catalytic hydrogenation and room temperature photoelectrocatalysisAuteur(s) / Author(s)
ICHIKAWA S. ; ICHIKAWA S. ;Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
Hitachi Ltd, Hitachi res. lab., Green cent., Ibaraki-ken, JAPONRésumé / Abstract
Conversion of effluent carbon dioxide to fuels is one of the possible methods to decrease its emission into the atmosphere. The concept of «chemical recycling» is expected to become a universal practice in the long run not only for its relevancy to CO2 but also as a means to solve energy problems by revitalizing flue gases in general through catalytic processes. This report gives new results on the developments of a rhodium-manganese catalyst for high-conversion of CO2 to methane by contact catalytic process and a photoelectrocatalytic process to convert CO2 to useful chemicals..."Note that it is a for-profit company, Hitachi, conducting this research. They see profit potential in it. And, note also the use of the descriptor "photoelectrocatalytic" as applied to the process. Have they developed an artificial photosynthesis, do you suppose? It is, as they say in the title, a "room temperature" process, which would suggest, at least, that some, perhaps significant, energy savings would be realized.