New research from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) revealed a single step process in which harmful carbon dioxide can be condensed into liquid hydrocarbon fuel, the institute said in a report.
The study, led by Professor Jae Sung Lee, was published in the journal
Applied Catalysis B: Environmental .
According to the UNIST report, the process makes use of abundant and inexpensive copper and steel catalysts to generate a reaction between carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen.
This process is said to be an improvement over old processes, which use methane or methanol to start a reaction between carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which results in low carbon dioxide reduction.
UNIST said that the benefits of the new development are twofold: one, it removes the harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; and two, it produces fuel which can be used as an alternative to gasoline.
“We believe the new catalyst …will open the avenue for new (opportunities) for recycling carbon dioxide into valuable fuels and chemicals,” Professor Lee said in the UNIST report.
Carbon dioxide is said to be the most troublesome greenhouse gas.
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