Fuels from CO2 ?

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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2018/03/20180310-mattershift.html

Quote:
...Startup Mattershift says it has achieved a breakthrough in making carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes at large scale. The startup is developing the technology’s ability to combine and separate individual molecules to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel using CO2 removed from the air....

...For 20 years, researchers have shown that CNT membranes offer tremendous promise for a wide variety of uses including the low-cost production of ethanol fuel, precision drug delivery, low-energy desalination of seawater, purification of pharmaceutical compounds, and high-performance catalysis for the production of fuels...Mattershift’s ability to mass-produce CNT membranes could unleash the potential of this technology...

...Using CNT membranes to produce fuels is just one example of a technology predicted by Nobelist Richard Feynman in the 1950s, known as Molecular Factories. Molecular Factories work by combining processes such as catalysis, separation, purification, and molecular-scale manipulation by nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) to make things from molecular building blocks...

..."This technology gives us a level of control over the material world that we’ve never had before. We can choose which molecules can pass through our membranes and what happens to them when they do. For example, right now we’re working to remove CO2 from the air and turn it into fuels. This has already been done using conventional technology, but it’s been too expensive to be practical. Using our tech, I think we’ll be able to produce carbon-zero gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels that are cheaper than fossil fuels." —Mattershift Founder and CEO, Dr. Rob McGinnis...
 
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from (assuming electricity on a large scale)? Wind, solar, hydro, cold fusion?? Maybe dilithium crystals?
 
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Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from (assuming electricity on a large scale)? Wind, solar, hydro, cold fusion?? Maybe dilithium crystals?


Correct.

You can't get "something" from "nothing".
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from..


From the usual sources?
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from (assuming electricity on a large scale)? Wind, solar, hydro, cold fusion?? Maybe dilithium crystals?


I think one idea is to use stranded energy solar locations. In other words, huge solar arrays that would otherwise be too far from civilization for practical power transmission.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from (assuming electricity on a large scale)? Wind, solar, hydro, cold fusion?? Maybe dilithium crystals?

I think one idea is to use stranded energy solar locations. In other words, huge solar arrays that would otherwise be too far from civilization for practical power transmission.

Have read that sort of thing before...but why would anyone build an intentionally stranded asset ?
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Have read that sort of thing before...but why would anyone build an intentionally stranded asset ?

Might have fewer regulatory headaches and NIMBY neighbors to worry about then??
All kinds of green-minded progressives went berserk when the ocean views from their expensive Cape Cod homes were threatened by the concept of offshore wind power generation near them in the Atlantic...
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Have read that sort of thing before...but why would anyone build an intentionally stranded asset ?

Well, we typically don't build stranded wind or solar power facilities, as it's impractical. But if the only task was to produce fuel via PV (solar panels) why not?
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Great idea-but where is the energy going to come from..

From the usual sources?

The perpetual free energy machine?

Originally Posted By: Cujet
I think one idea is to use stranded energy solar locations. In other words, huge solar arrays that would otherwise be too far from civilization for practical power transmission.

Why not a high voltage power line then?

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Have to use water too to make any fuel with the carbon.

I have an idea if you have a lot of free solar and water: agricultural.
 
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