Petrol from fresh air and water vapour!

mike65

Full of challenges but nonetheless an interesting diversion,

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-the-scientists-who-turned-fresh-air-into-petrol-8217382.html

A small British company has produced the first "petrol from air" using a revolutionary technology that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as helping to curb global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of petrol since August when it switched on a small refinery that manufactures gasoline from carbon dioxide and water vapour.

The company hopes that within two years it will build a larger, commercial-scale plant capable of producing a ton of petrol a day. It also plans to produce green aviation fuel to make airline travel more carbon-neutral.

Tim Fox, head of energy and the environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, said: "It sounds too good to be true, but it is true. They are doing it and I've been up there myself and seen it. The innovation is that they have made it happen as a process. It's a small pilot plant capturing air and extracting CO2 from it based on well known principles. It uses well-known and well-established components but what is exciting is that they have put the whole thing together and shown that it can work."

nothing new of course, here is a technique shown in James Mays Big Ideas from a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ5mpQqmZaM

Heroditas

This is the most important part of the article:

Although the process is still in the early developmental stages and needs to take electricity from the national grid to work, the company believes it will eventually be possible to use power from renewable sources such as wind farms or tidal barrages.

I would imagine that it is an extremely high net consumer of electricity.
Even if it is going to run on renewable energy, the renewable generators still need to be built.
In that case, one would have to consider whether you'd be better off using the electricity from the renewable sources in that form, instead of consuming it to produce a hydrocarbon fuel, and all the inefficiencies associated with it.

However: I love the science behind it and it's scientists like these that are pushing the boundaries and our understanding of various forms of energy.

eth0

Petrol is a good way of storing excess energy from wind turbines if it's even the slightest bit efficient

I wonder what they did with the 5 litres they made. Did the boss put it in his lawnmower?

BidillyBo

I'd say this will be the last we ever hear of it to be honest, I'd say it will be owned by a oil company fairly soon

Waestrel

no big oil, plz.....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/company-that-made-petrol-from-air-breakthrough-shudders-at-prospect-of-oil-industry-approaches-8218812.html

Markcheese

If running it off wind turbines we'd be actually able to say ireland is the Saudi Arabia of wind energy..,
Seriously would that use mainly heat/electrical or mechanical energy..as in would it be more efficent to make petrol at source or remotely..