Researchers have combined gold nanoparticles (in light red) with copper nanoparticles (in light green) to form hybrid nanoparticles (dark red), which they turned into powder (foreground) to catalyze carbon dioxide reduction.
Researchers have combined gold nanoparticles (in light red) with copper nanoparticles (in light green) to form hybrid nanoparticles (dark red), which they turned into powder (foreground) to catalyze carbon dioxide reduction.
Cue McGyver - “The thing about hydrocarbons is...”
http://macgyver.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_problems_solved_by_MacGyver
Actually, that would be Zinc.
How much voltage, for how long? IOW, will it cost more to supply the necessary voltage than the net value of the fuel produced?
Will it end up as inefficient as the other "green" technologies?
science ping
I guess I'm missing the point. Thermodynamics requires MORE energy to convert CO2 into methane than can be produced by converting (combustion of) methane back into CO2 and H2O. The total mass of carbon remains constant. So how does this help?
Wait a minute - they burn methane which produces carbon dioxide which they convert back into methane which they burn which produces carbon dioxide which they convert back into methane.....
When methane is burned the carbon turns back into CO2 so there is no net gain. Are they suggesting they've discovered a perpetual motion machine? Is there any point in doing this?
Sounds like another great money-wasting scheme to me. But it’s great for Professorette Chu, whose research is probably funded by Steven Chu (no relation?).
Meantime, they’re blocking the nuclear plants and shutting down the coal plants that would produce the needed electricity to do this.
Lights out! Time to freeze in the dark, while starving the plants.
Let’s see CO2 has one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Methane is CH4, that is one carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms. I never see in the article where the hydrogen atoms are going to come from. Besides as cheap as methane is today I don’t see the point.
I think you guys are missing something. It sounds to me like the whole article is talking about a breakthrough in combining CO2 and hydrogen, into methane. Thus its not a perpetual motion machine. The hydrogen will be supplied outside of this process. That is the only thing that make sense to me.
Very interesting!
I wonder whether this science would work with other non-oxidizing metals like platinum or paladium and copper, as our catalytic converters already use these metals to reduce noxious gasses.
Perhaps the resulting methene could be recycled into the combustion process thru introducing it back into a turbocharger
Now if we can figure how to reverse the process we can turn coal into copper and gold.
Thermodynamics should be required education for every citizen. Especially the morons in congress.
Hmmm. I believe I’ve used copper to make ethanol too! :)