This is just incredible.
Earlier this week, researchers from UCLA announced a new biological process that can turn carbon dioxide—the stuff we’re trying to get rid of—into a liquid with similar properties to gasoline—the stuff we desperately want more of.
How it works, according to Science Daily, is by using a genetically modified bacteria that utilize the energy of the sun convert carbon dioxide particles into isobutanol, which is a liquid with similar properties to gasoline. The study suggests that fuel created in this way could easily be adapted to our already-in-place infrastructure, as well as be used in other petroleum-based products.
“An ideal place for this system would be next to existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide, the researchers say, potentially allowing the greenhouse gas to be captured and directly recycled into liquid fuel.”
"We are continuing to improve the rate and yield of the production," said said team leader James C. Liao, Chancellor's Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA and associate director of the UCLA-Department of Energy Institute for Genomics and Proteomics. "Other obstacles include the efficiency of light distribution and reduction of bioreactor cost. We are working on solutions to these problems."
Obviously, the implications of this technology on deciding where our fuel comes from are huge. This particular idea has two distinct advantages: 1) It uses excess carbon dioxide to create energy 2) The researchers claim it is much more easily adapted to our current infrastructure than biomass.
It also got me thinking about the idea of technological development, and how our goal in this class of divvying up energy demands into different types is made more interesting. Technology is being developed, and will continue to be developed, that we can’t fathom right now. It’s a part of the answer to the question of what type fuel we will use in the future. New technology, new sources of energy, will most assuredly be part of the equation.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210162222.htm
-Ed Johnson
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