Bad morphs into good!

We just can’t stop throwing up carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So why not try using it in a way that cancels out the gas in the air? Better still; why not integrate the gas into a sustainable form of energy production? That is exactly what a research team at the Freiburg Materials Research Center has done. They have developed a new system for producing methanol that uses CO₂ and hydrogen.

In order to produce methanol, the carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen in a high pressure environment, a process known as hydrogenolysis. New catalyst systems and methods for accelerating the chemical reaction even more are among what the team is studying.

They currently use the metal oxides copper, zinc, and zirconium dioxide as catalysts, enabling the reaction to happen at lower temperatures. In this way, the gases don't have to be heated as much. Together the catalysts form a so-called mixed system of surface-rich porous solid matter with defined properties. If the catalysts consist of nanoparticles, their activity is increased even more.

Methanol can be used as an environmentally friendly alternative for gasoline. When used as an alternative to gasoline, methanol is less dangerous and less harmful to the environment than conventional fuels. In around two years, the researchers aim to be able to produce methanol on a mass scale according to this technique. Then the CO₂ will be filtered out of the waste gas stream of a combined heat and power plant and used to produce methanol. 

When methanol is burned in a motor, CO₂ is released again. If the same molecule were used twice, it would theoretically be possible to use 50 percent less CO₂ to create the same amount of energy. The amount of methanol that could be converted from 10 percent of the yearly CO₂ emissions in Germany would cover the country's yearly fuel needs. Capturing waste gases from power plants and filtering out the CO2 which then can be converted to methanol... sounds like a legitimate next step. But is it?