Co2 Turned Directly Into Ethanol

[BilgeRat]

Carbon neutral...

 

[McBrew]

What do you get when you burn ethanol? Wouldn't be CO2 would it?

The point is to be as carbon neutral as possible. If you pull a fuel source out of the ground that was safely sequestered there and burn it, you are adding CO2 to the atmosphere. If you pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, turn it into fuel, then burn it, you are just returning CO2 that was already there -- neutral.


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[Marshall]

Here are a couple of links for you, Marshall.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/10/19/scientists-turn-co2-into-ethanol/

Just as I expected, the scientists are not claiming the reaction is a direct change of CO2 to Ethanol. That comes from the subtitles which is obviously not prepared by anyone with a basic chemistry background.

While it may not be a direct conversion, adding water (H2O) (plentiful) and having oxygen (O2) as a byproduct is still an exciting reaction. It just doesn't meet the definition of a direct reaction.

 

[Marshall]

What do you get when you burn ethanol? Wouldn't be CO2 would it?

Technically, that would be the reverse of the new process or CH3CH2OH + 3(O2) = 2(CO2) + 3(H2O)

The burning is called oxidation and the byproduct is water in an efficient reaction. Energy is produced during oxidation and absorbed with the new process. The video indicates the process is about 65% efficient which is a good number for storing unused excess electrical energy from the grid which would otherwise be lost to heat.

Please don't misunderstand my comment. It was intended only to pick on ignorant reporters and not a jab at the project or results.