MIT Scholars make a Carbon-neutral fuel out of CO2

A research team at MIT developed a process where captured CO2 could fuel clean electricity without leaving a carbon imprint.

Working with CO2 is usually an uphill task that requires technological advancement if anything tangible must come through. However, a Chinese-dominated research team at MIT working in collaboration with scholars at Harvard University has left a mark with the stubborn gas that will surely become a building block for future innovation.

The research team which said it published the findings in the Cell Reports Physical Science journal performed what seems to many as magic with carbon dioxide using electrochemistry in a process that is 95% efficient, way higher than in previous known efforts. 

According to the team, it captured atmospheric CO2 - the most notorious contributor to global warming - and reacted it with a catalyst, followed by photosynthesis which turned the gas into a stable sodium formate powder.

The powdery fuel, according to them, can be stored safely for decades and could be efficiently converted back into clean electricity. 

Before now, scientists had turned CO2 into fuel but the process was energy-intensive and didn't last long under storage. 

Sodium formate powder is more promising than methanol and hydrogen gas, the team said. 

The former (methanol) is toxic and could cause health hazards, while the latter require a high-pressure tank for storage. It can leak from pipes and tanks, defeating the possibility of any long-term storage. Plus, hydrogen has a low flash point and this is dangerous.

The newly developed CO2 powder proves non-corrosive and it will be helpful to heavy industries whose operations continue to release tons of emissions into the atmosphere.

But there is a valley. 

The research team needs money and space to scale it out of the lab, which is why they are having a series of talks with commercial companies that have shown interest in their scientific innovation.