Scientists find cleaner, more efficient way to turn CO2 into fuel
It could reduce in those moments when you still need gasoline.
Conventional fuel aren't going away just yet, but that doesn't mean you can't produce them in a more responsible way... and scientists might have found that way. They've developed a process that can convert CO2 into carbon monoxide (and subsequently into fuel) using solar energy with nearly flawless selection -- that is, you can get the material you want virtually every time. The trick was to create a spongy nickel-organic photocatalyst that purposefully includes a lot of defects, letting it produce adequate amounts of carbon monoxide without creating surprise molecules.
There's a lot of work to be done before this method is ready for the real world, particularly when it comes to handling large-scale production, but it raises the possibility of reliably generating synthetic fuels (such as ethanol and acetic acid) with a minimal impact on the environment. Instead of leaning heavily on fossil fuels or farms, you'd mainly need CO2 and some sunlight. The result still wouldn't be completely eco-friendly, but it would be clean enough that companies that still have to use conventional fuels could do so without making CO2 emissions worse than they already are.
