Transforming Greenhouse gas to clean fuel
(Pittsburgh) — Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels is a notorious greenhouse gas.
It’s possible to capture it and convert it into a cleaner fuel but up to this point the process has been too expensive to be feasible. More research from the University of Pittsburgh seeks to change that.
To simplify the carbon capture and conversion process and make it more cost effective, Karl Johnson and his team at the University of Pittsburgh, used calculations to identify a catalyst that will do the job in one step. Johnson says this research could mitigate the effects of fossil fuels.
“This technology allows us to bridge to the future, in that it will allow us to keep using fossil fuels without increasing dramatically the carbon in the atmosphere by capturing and then reusing it,” he said.
Johnson says it will be up to other scientists to use his work to conduct physical experiments.
It could be years before this technical vision is made a practical reality.
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