USC researchers outline their proposed carbon cycle
Posted: Fri 08 Jul 2011, 22:06:44
USC researchers outline their proposed anthropogenic chemical carbon cycle; the “Methanol Economy”
greencarcongress
In a Perspective published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers from the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California describe their work on developing the feasible anthropogenic recycling of carbon dioxide.
Under their scheme, carbon dioxide is captured by absorption technologies from any natural or industrial source, from human activities, or even from the air itself. It can then be converted by feasible chemical transformations into fuels such as methanol, dimethyl ether, and varied products including synthetic hydrocarbons and even proteins for animal feed, thus supplementing the food chain. This broad concept the basis of what they call the Methanol Economy.
The required energy for the synthetic carbon cycle can come from any alternative energy source such as solar, wind, geothermal, and even nuclear energy. The anthropogenic carbon dioxide cycle offers a way of assuring a sustainable future for humankind when fossil fuels become scarce, they propose.
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