[justlurking]

My personal thought is that if they can’t make that process cheaper than cracking oil into gas without some effing government subsidy like for ethanol, then they should STFU.

A lot of detail is left out:

1. What's the cost of manufacturing the catalyst? (it's nanotechnology)
2. Does the catalyst degrade over time? What's the estimated lifetime?
3. What's the required power in kilowatt hours, per unit of ethanol, including any distillation to remove the water?

I would think that it violates some law of physics to convert carbon dioxide and water back into a hydrocarbon, and use less energy than was yielded by the original combustion.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be difficult to build a perpetual motion machine.

[Gaffer]

The whole crux of the matter is that Oak Ridge is a government laboratory that is operated by a private company.

They, like all the other leech companies sucking off the government have to come up with new and exciting promising theories, processes and gambits to hoodwink politicians something worthwhile can be done. All horseshit that will prove to be just a big a boon as the efficacy of ethanol

And any user of ethanol in their car, lawn mower, yard tools, etc. knows what a crock of sh!t it is.

[Cboldt]

-- I would think that it violates some law of physics to convert carbon dioxide and water back into a hydrocarbon, and use less energy than was yielded by the original combustion. --

Second law of thermodynamics.