Researchers turn carbon dioxide into ethanol, don't drink this.

Ok sign me up because this little discovery is going to change everything!  The researchers at Oak Ridge National have stumbled on a way to convert carbon dioxide into pure ethanol using a simple catalyst, some electricity and nitrogen.  It happens at room temperature and basically reverses the combustion process.

That is, in times of excess energy production from renewable resources, rather than store that electricity in a giant battery, we could instead convert it to ethanol and use that to power generators when renewable sources aren't producing. Plus it would be carbon neutral since the carbon dioxide generated from burning the ethanol would be reclaimed by the catalytic process. There's no word, however, on when this accidental invention will make it out of the lab.

I can see how this generator could be used for a variety of purposes and it will depend largely on how fast the ethanol can be produced and how large the catalytic converter needs to be.  Likewise they claim that the process occurs at room temperature but there has to be some heat production or consumption during the process which can impact how efficient the conversion is.

I'll be watching this one for sure.

Related Web URL: https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/18/researchers-ac...