Making Gasoline from Carbon Dioxide

04/29/2007

A solar-powered reaction turns a greenhouse gas into a valuable raw material.

By Kevin Bullis
Technology Review
April 4, 2007

Chemists have shown that it is possible to use solar energy, paired with the right catalyst, to convert carbon dioxide into a raw material for making a wide range of products, including plastics and gasoline.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), recently demonstrated that light absorbed and converted into electricity by a silicon electrode can help drive a reaction that converts carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. Carbon monoxide is a valuable commodity chemical that is widely used to make plastics and other products, says Clifford Kubiak, professor of chemistry at UCSD. It is also a key ingredient in a process for making synthetic fuels, including syngas (a mixture largely of carbon monoxide and hydrogen), methanol, and gasoline.

The work is part of a growing effort to find practical uses for carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, says Philip Jessop, professor of chemistry at Queen's University, in Ontario, Canada. Converting carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide is difficult to do, which Jessop says makes the UCSD work impressive and exciting.

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