CO2 To Fuel, Closing the "Carbon Loop" 316
leprasmurf writes "Inhabitat has posted an article detailing a recent announcement of a process to turn CO2 into fuel. The process, which used to be considered too energy inefficient, uses a multi-step, low pressure, and low temperature biocatalyst to break the CO2 into 'basic hydrocarbon building blocks.'"
Now if only we could convert "FIRST" posts to fuel (Score:2, Funny)
Imagine that, we could power the universe!
New Porcess? (Score:5, Funny)
1) Grow a plant.
2) Stick in the ground for a few thousand years.
3) Dig up resultant black goo.
4) Distill goo into reactive liquid and distribute...
How is this new? When did it become more efficient?
Re:New Process? (Score:4, Funny)
In this house... (Score:5, Funny)
In this house we observe the laws of thermodynamics.
Snake Oil (Score:5, Funny)
No, really, I'm serious! They use snake oil. The oil excreted by snakes as they burrow from their underground lairs is what actually creates oil. However, it takes combinations of snake oil from both venomous and non-venomous snakes to make oil that is combustable -- That's why there are MULTIPLE PHASES of the transformation from CO2 to the necessary compounds.
The real secret here is finding snakes capable of slithering over blocks of dry ice without freezing to death. The way they do that is they pour piping hot McDonald's coffee on the snakes before having them slither over the dry ice to create the oil sludges required. Hence, they use snake oil.
That, or this is a crock of shit and shouldn't get the time of day.
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:5, Funny)
Get a Snake,
Get some CO2,
Suffecate the Snake,
Extract Snake Oil.
Re:Misleading Summary (Score:1, Funny)
A rampaging mob of respectable physicists?
Angry because they dont get invited to that sort of party?
Porcess Profits (Score:4, Funny)
New word derivation: pork, porcine, porcess. Obviously the word is related to the missing #5 step Profit. No doubt he concludes its a method of getting government subsidies and tax break investments in order to make a "silk purse out of a sow's ear". As has been very obvious a corporation does not need to show a profit on the books for it to be profitable to its founders and officers, too obviously of late.
Wait! There's more... (Score:5, Funny)
what we need (Score:5, Funny)
Your post advocates a
( ) physical ( ) legislative ( ) market-based ( ) chemical
approach to global warming. Your idea will not work. Here is why it won't work. (One or more of the following may apply to your particular idea, and it may have other flaws
form. This is slashdot. We don't need no stinking optimism here.
I'll compile it, contributions are welcome. Here are mine.
( ) it violates the First Law of Thermodynamics
( ) it violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Specifically, your plan fails to account for
( ) the energy needed to accomplish your simple tranformation
Re:uh (Score:5, Funny)
Animals convert oxygen into carbon dioxide (by breathing*). Plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen (by photosynthesis). Fungi "breathe" like animals do.
My solution to global warming: Eat more steak and mushrooms and less vegetables.
*Simplification due to the various processes that animals use (i.e. lungs or gills)
Comment removed (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Just Basic Organic Chemistry... (Score:5, Funny)
If they can figure a way to tap into trees and get them sending a current to the grid, that'd be cool! An electric forest, stretching to the horizon, with just the stench of fried squirrel...
Re:New Process? (Score:3, Funny)
That is the ones with the lipstick?
Re:what we need (Score:4, Funny)
I'll compile it, contributions are welcome. Here are mine.
Here are a few more:
[ ] sounds too good to be true.
[ ] actually is too good to be true.
[ ] no supporting studies or other peer-reviewed research
[ ] marketing materials use the word "proprietary" and/or "patent pending" way too often.
[ ] company founders^H^H^H^H^H^Hperpetrators previously convicted of fraud and/or embezzlement
[ ] investors must have the ability to suspend disbelief at will
Re:Just Basic Organic Chemistry... (Score:1, Funny)
Stench? That's the sweet smell of victory, my friend.
Hire a pig farmer (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:5, Funny)
Exception at line ("Then keep chopping it down every two years"): Attempt to chop down an already chopped-down tree.
Re:Just Basic Organic Chemistry... (Score:3, Funny)
Chemistry?? I think you mean Physics. I can hide from your stamp collecting at the center of a black hole, if need be.
I think you mean mathematics. [xkcd.com]
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:5, Funny)
Already Up And Running (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:2, Funny)
Has nobody noticed that according to the URL, it is about turning carbon into feul? I don't think there is such a thing as feul. It must be a word they made up to describe the horrible monstrosity into which they are transforming the carbon.
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:3, Funny)
You just need to get some gorillas to eat the ivy.
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:4, Funny)
But where will they get the mist to put the gorillas in?
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:4, Funny)
And come winter, the gorillas will just freeze to death. Problem solved.
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:5, Funny)
Either that or they convinced the USPTO to grant them a patent on photosynthesis.
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:4, Funny)
I'm sure many people said they were going to fly, just moments before they died from impact with the ground. These Wright guys had a plan, and an educated person in their time could have looked at their plan and said: 'this might actually work.'
The CO2 to fuel thing is more like saying 'I'm going to fly!' while jumping of a high building while flapping your arms and making bird noises.
Re:uh (Score:3, Funny)
My solution to global warming: Eat more steak and mushrooms and less vegetables.
I know you're trying to be funny, but it's worth noting here that the production of the steak will use far more vegetable resources than eating the protein-equivalent directly in vegetables.
Simple, feed the animals with steak. It's steaks all the way down.
Re:what we need (Score:4, Funny)
There has to be an option along the lines of:
[ ] It uses Nuclear power, and that scares a large number of people who don't get the science behind it.
I can possibly see a place for something like:
[ ] It uses science, and that scares a large number of people who don't get the science behind it.
Re:Now if only we could convert "FIRST" posts to f (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Vaporware alert (Score:3, Funny)
They make a damn good switch though.