Science Solves Global Warming Problem!!
Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have discovered a chemical reaction to turn CO2 into ethanol, potentially creating a new technology to help avert climate change. Their findings were published in the journal ChemistrySelect.
The researchers were attempting to find a series of chemical reactions that could turn CO2 into a useful fuel, when they realized the first step in their process managed to do it all by itself. The reaction turns CO2 into ethanol, which could in turn be used to power generators and vehicles.
The tech involves a new combination of copper and carbon arranged into nanospikes on a silicon surface. The nanotechnology allows the reactions to be very precise, with very few contaminants.
|
Well 'solves' is an overstatement but still pretty cool. There is no quantity shown for how much of this ethanol would have to be created for 'solving' global warming; can production/storing/reuse/ overcome the C02 output and reverse the rise of CO2 to avoid costly changes? It really look like more of playing with the 'fast' carbon already in the atmosphere as it is proposed as well, reusing the carbon already in the atmosphere rather than putting new carbon in. That being said it is certainly not off the table for reducing the amount of new carbon being put in the atmosphere. Carbon capture as an idea isn't new but this is one of the processes that has more appeal to business than other carbon capture/sequestration methods because the end product is usable. Other studies have had similar success but with an intermediary product as the end result. It's still early on so a few tests replicating/refining the work will have to be done before its cemented in as a viable route. 1
point
Here is some more info on this discovery, which is certain to win a Nobel Prize for Chemistry...... Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is necessary for plants and trees to grow. Forests play a specific and important role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, storing carbon above and belowground, and producing oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis.Mar 30, 2012 This is science what you have to say now about CO2 ? Well, hell....Of course a requisite level of CO2 in the atmosphere--the "biosphere" to be more accurate--is necessary in order for flora to live and thrive. Duh. But maybe you have heard of a teeny little problem called Global Warming? This is when the CO2 levels exceed the optimal amount. And so this imbalance leads to a Greenhouse Effect, that causes overly warm temps. Most of this is man-made, of course, caused by the burning of fossil fuels. With cars, trucks, factories, and other internal combustion engine-driven technology, we dump millions of tons into the Biosphere on a daily basis.
Needless to say, our Earth and its attendant plant life did not evolve to deal with these exacerbated levels of CO2. Nature did just fine, well, even better, for all of its history, before we came along with our fossil fuel burning and its attendant pollution. Thus, this new discovery of converting excess Co2 into ethanol is an excellent "win-win" scenario, as we can not only develop systems to curtail some of those emissions, but we can put the Co2 to good use, by using it for alternative fuels. Thus decreasing the need for fossil fuels and the problems they cause. Got it? Sweet. SS Trees absorb carbon dioxide and potentially harmful gasses, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, from the air and release oxygen. One large tree can supply a day's supply of oxygen for four people. How is that people are still alive if CO2 is so bad ! You believe in science don't you ? |
