Turning Carbon Dioxide into Petrol - Carbon Capture - Horizons

There's now a fifth more carbon in the atmosphere than there was just in the year 2000 and the international energy agency talks about carbon capture and storage, CCS in the jargon, as the most important single new technology to prevent global warming. Adam Shaw visits a company who are not just capturing and storing CO2 but are using CO2 to create a synthetic fuel.
More Horizons here www.bbc.com/hor... (outside UK only)
Subscribe to the BBC Worldwide channel: bit.ly/yqBWhy
This is a channel from BBC Studios who help fund new BBC programmes. Service information and feedback: www.bbcstudios...

[@starked1]

Wouldn't it make sense to have this device at a refinery where they could capture the CO2 from the flare-off stacks and stop it from getting into the atmosphere in the first place? You would get a higher percentage than using the low concentration that is in the atmosphere.

[@sleepydragonzarinthal3533]

Thats the idea, but you're asking a lot of fuel companies. The hard part is the temperatures on those stacks, but that can theoretically be converted to energy as well, cooling the CO2 then recapturing it. Its a big investment even for the oil companies, but it should eventually be required, if not profitable.

[@jamesjonnes]

You can even capture co2 from the exhaust of every vehicle and then send it back to be converted back into fuel.

[@demoniack81]

It makes far more sense to not flare in the first place, since the gases that get flared can be used as fuel themselves. Most refineries these days only flare in case of emergencies (overpressure in any of the pipes). They have a small pilot flare that is kept lit at all times, but it burns a minimal amount of gas. The rest is recovered and either used to power the refinery itself, or sold as fuel.

[@Ronan1692]

Use a molten salt reactor. Electricity without CO2 to produce synthetic fuels so you have a closed Carbon loop. The only possible problem the local pollution and effect on people in the centre of a city like Beijing or Paris.

[@user-jk8vh3cw2x]

yea burning things dont just put out co2 and h2o especially oil refineries the might be so2 and no or no2 and other gunk that might mess the solution and its expensive industries cheap out on trivial necessary things you want em to do the hastle of doing these things

[@Fredisyodaddyo]

Is co2 now recyclable? Or renewable!? Amazing either way. Gives me hope for the human race

[@scottyg4605]

Do the maths Dum Dum. ..... 1 pint of fuel per day and probably Created 10x more CO2 than removed from the Air through the electricity used lol. At $250 a gallon, who's going to buy it and a business that's never making money is a chemistry, experimental, money pit for grants and investors that never see thier money again 😅😅😅👍👍👍👍

[@holden2260]

So does this mean that if this was implemented in cars that they would act like co2 vacuum cleaners?

[@bobthebomb1596]

@Heroniden Or hook it up to a molten salt smr with a small supercritical CO2 turbine to provide the electricity and process heat.

[@Epck]

@@scottyg4605 well yeah but it would work for the concrete business which is a large ass amount t of the carbon...proudly more than humans

[@mikkom221]

Plants do recycle co2 and it has been totally renewable for since stone and stick were invented.

[@dhansel4835]

The Facts: Steve contacted a friend at Chevron and got the following response on the feasibility of making hydrocarbon products from CO2: Dave This process is technically possible, but wildly expensive. The resulting fuel would be sulfur-free and make very nice clean burning diesel. Calling the process carbon-neutral is a real stretch. Massive amounts of energy are needed to separate the CO2 from the air (only 400 ppm), break the carbon and oxygen apart, recombine the carbon, add hydrogen, refine the fuel to the right range of molecule sizes for diesel, etc. Blithely claiming it's OK because we'll use renewable/alternative energy is misleading. It takes massive amounts of fossil energy to establish a wind or solar system and the resulting (intermittent) electricity is 2-5 times more expensive. The analogy that occurs to me is along the lines of - "Invest in me because I am going to make iron by collecting free rust and turn it back into iron using solar cells." It is technically feasible, but wildly more expensive than current methods. Manager - Los Alamos Technology Alliance Chevron Corporation Energy Technology Company 1400 Smith St., Houston, TX 77002

[@A_Box]

Dude, just plug into into a thorium molten salt reactor. More energy than you could possibly need in the near future.

[@dongiovanni4331]

@@A_Box or use a PWR, as its proven technology.

[@user-li1cj9sn9x]

D Hansel you talk with much authority about engineeing I doubt I'll see anybody arguing with you ..at least not me 👍👍

[@MrMrannoying]

Really cool. I want to see how the system can become more efficient or maybe in smaller in the future

[@schmalzilla1985]

OK thanks for taking the time to explain that.

[@mattdathew2794]

wow, that's a very good model, am salivating

[@komaki119]

Awesome!. Bring on the future

[@TheDIYScienceGuy]

Really great stuff

[@Luminaring]

Wonder what the projected cost per/unit would be? Joules Unlimited does a similar process. The process is sun light plus CO2 plus water fuel that is 'finish refined' in their DNA modified algae, who's Body...surprisingly holds it's energy storage (fuel) on the outside. The algae lives on after the fuel is removed. Joules Unlimited is teamed up with Audi...so it's no 'smoke and mirrors' idea. Joules says they can do it profitable at equal to oil @$50/barrel.

[@leerman22]

So it's basically a less efficient solar cell. Probably better than pumped hydro+PV farms.

[@Luminaring]

Possibly. I think plants,algaes are not too efficient at converting sun energy into sugar or oil, maybe less than 5%. Solar cell are 15%-20%, but require to buy 15 years of electricity up front (the cost of the cell itself), and the storage costs are crazy high. So the total cost/unit energy is one of a couple of numbers to look at.

[@KENKENNIFF]

How long before people complained about Global cooling due to carbon being sucked out of the atmosphere. The concern is overpopulation and there is no technical fix.

[@thakurpuneetsingh5770]

Great work👍

[@HiggsDeposition]

My guy be looking like Doctor Bones from Star Trek

[@davidlaw233]

Truly co2 is an amazing substance

[@eminemishh]

Make this stuff full scale, we will be solving our problem.

[@haqitman]

Could I get a portable one of these to set up in my back yard to power with solar to produce a few liters per month for my car? Thanks.

[@elquemando]

Fuel production is only one aspect which could make this technology desirable. Also very important is the opportunity to divert CO2 from the atmosphere.

[@jamescobbinah7292]

Amazing

[@de0509]

How many stroke is that engine in the end though? Could it be two?

[@timothymostad8968]

Sounds promising

[@GhostCalib3rX]

A lot of electricity is required.. like he said.. which could be generated via wind or solar power.

[@JohnSmith-uy3fp]

It seems like most or all of the larger hydrocarbon molecules are all fuels that can be oxidized to release energy at some temperature. Carbon dioxide and water are just about free. Set a mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide spinning at high velocity in a cylindrical chamber with a filter along the outside that will stop anything larger than methane hoping to catch only those molecules that are liquid or solid at room temperature and are easily stored with good energy density. Focusing concentrated solar into the center of the chamber will break the water and carbon dioxide down into their elements. The centrifugal force and theiir own heat will drive the disassociated elements away from the center where they will combine into different hydrocarbons at different temperatures as they move awsy from the heat. The larger molecules so formed are likely to be alcohols or propane or butane etc., and will be trapoed by the filter. The recombined carbon dioxide and water and other small molecules will pass through the filter and can be recirculated into the center. The larger flamnable molecules trapped by the filter and kept from the hot center by centrifugal force will build up until most of the initial carbon dioxide and water vapor have been converted to flammable hydrocarbons like the mix found in crude oil. This "crude oil" can then be refined in the ordinary way. Hopefully the process would not take millions of years as in the formation of natural fossil fuels.

[@paultaylor6712]

Where do you get the sodium hydroxide?

[@bharathreddygudibandi492]

great efforts

[@suzaku64]

The idea is to eventually replace conventional refineries with these ones instead I believe. While smart, your idea would only be feasible in the short term... if this ever launches full scale that is :)

[@matthewaustin3488]

It's all possible keep going

[@Roedygr]

This is not a sensible idea. You have to put more energy in to convert the CO2 to petrol than you get back out when you burn it.

[@smolpener7430]

Why would you capture water vapor to electrolize instead of just hooking the tap up? It just makes the water like 50x more expensive to no benefit.

[@JusticeAlways]

Wonder if CO2 capture could be done on automobile exhaust systems before release to the atmosphere?

[@DeathrashWhiplash]

Oil is essential a battery

[@SAILINGBUM1]

This is Old news. The original company CABN touted the same story . I invested around 10g's and now it's worth less then $100 (-005)and my broker says the handler won't sell it unless and unknown transaction fee is charged which may be more then the sell price. ..

[@hempisnotpot4112]

aloha ok i saw you video of cabon fuel, a better idea is to put a carbon filter on the exhaust on all vehicles otherwise whatever fuel you burn/make is still is released as co2, or if in addition you can make a self refilling fuel system and you’d never buy gas. hello

[@PotatoSauc3]

Sooo where's this technology at in 2019?

[@justinhubbard4124]

Ask AOC

[@LoggyWD]

It is still there, in the garbage can where it belongs. It uses electricity which is produced from coal at a low efficiency. It producs a lot more co2, not neutral at all.

[@videosforcatsanddogs214]

Porsche is working on it along with Bosch and many other big companies. It will eventually displace fossil fuels and probably is a great solution for ships and planes.

[@TimSmith-vl4qk]

what about solar panel's and a battery system or a separate power grid only for that system

[@ArjunChavda07]

nice stuff

[@anilsharma-ev2my]

Do the hydrogenation of carbon di oxides ➕ cathode ray electron gun from a T.V. ➕ catalyst So we mix electron with carbondioxide co2 Now it becomes a plasma. Now mixing liquid hydrogen in it will show some petrol like products ?????

[@hobnob29]

Yes, Nuclear fission has waste disposal issues, but Nuclear FUSION does not produce any waste products, it is a self sustaining reaction, and it is actually in the building stage right now.

[@microfarmers]

So it takes 10 pounds of fossil fuels to make 1 pound of green energy? Priceless!

[@Freakoutski]

You've just described something that is already in use. A carbon scrubber.

[@MiguelMorales85]

What about the energy needed?

[@BW022]

Groan. Ok... so you fill a desert with solar panels (ignoring the energy and specific minerals needed to make the solar panels). You now build a massive plant next to it. You then extra CO2, combine it with sulphur-based chemicals (which need producing and extracting) and make ethanol. You then transport the ethanol to vehicles which burn it.Now anyone can figure at least five better ways of going this. 1. Farm crops and use the plant material to make ethanol. Doesn't require solar panels, sulphur extraction, etc. 2. Just put vast lakes of algae or vats of bacteria. These will extract CO2 and make ethanol for you without the need of solar cells. 3. If you have all this endless renewable power... use the solar cells to make this vast amount of electricity and send to cities with electric vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells. Electric vehicles are far more efficient then burning gasoline (let alone low-grade ethanol fuels). 4. If you have all this endless renewable power... replace all the coal and gas electricity plants in the world and don't worry about making ethanol for vehicles.5. If you have all this endless renewable power... just keep burning coal and gasoline for power and use existing carbon extraction technology to take CO2 out of the earth and trap it in rock or the ocean.The problem has never been using, transporting, or converting energy. These are always a fraction of the energy usage percentage. The issue has always been generating the power. This "technology" relies on some fictional renewable power which doesn't exist. If such power existed... we have the technology to replace fossil fuel vehicles with electric vehicles and just use the power normally.

[@jasonisbored6679]

I think that the main upside to this is just to be removing co2, but you have a really good point. it's not really worth it.

[@Dollapfin]

Jason isbored plants remove co2

[@kevinlane1219]

Cars that run on gasoline cannot run on ethanol, and vice versa. While I'm at it, biofuel will become useless in wintertime, unless we insulate our gas tanks and engines.

[@Dollapfin]

Kevin Lane okay no sir. Not all biofuels have a low cetane value. Dimethyl ether has a high cetane which is similar to high grade diesel with additives which can be mixed with ethanol butanol methanol etc for winter performance at the pump. Engines should be insulated and water injection should be used when you have engine temps on the wall of the cylinder above 300 degrees. Check out the achates engine. HCCI engines too.

[@stauffap]

You forget what we need to replace here. Ships, Airplanes, trucks, cars, motorcycles etc. You want to replace all those vehicles and power them with electro-motors? Of course this would need massive amounts of copper and i'm not even sure if we have enough resources to create all of those magnets, especially when you consider that they are needed to create the wind generators that people plan on building. And of course lets not forget about the batteries that electric vehicles will need. Will we have enough lithium? Will we be able to extract it as quickly as it is needed? Furthermore liquid carbon neutral fuels are the only thing that will be able to store energy for years and decades. You forget that many renewable energies have a highly fluctuating output and you forget that the energy demand is different from season to season as well. So storage technologies are crucial. Not all countries have high mountains, which are capable of storing a lot of energy. Carbon neutral fuels are going to be a key part of the way towards a carbon neutral economy.

[@karanandrajashayrivideos1089]

Nice

[@leinam4164]

Omg unbelievable

[@hackitgarage6503]

What is the energy consumption of this process

[@NatashaPereira1991]

This will be the next wonder!

[@jacobsvideo96]

I hope they can figure it out that would help the world a lot if the can take more carbon out then they would have to put in

[@robinconnelly6079]

Seems a bit of a strange idea to turn methanol back into petrol. It's a perfectly good fuel as it is and it can be driven directly into a fuel cell that doesn't give off CO2. I like the idea of making methanol out of the air, though that's definitely got something going for it

[@teagueman100]

Methanol is to toxic for consumers. Methanol vapour causes blindness.

[@WizzleThump]

Great idea, but to scale it up to the point it would actually do anything, you'd need a system thousands of times larger. Unless you spend billions and make this city sized, this is just a fun idea.

[@jonathansgarden9128]

It's all about proof of concept. You start small to test the various numbers and efficiency, then scale up

[@TimSmith-vl4qk]

this is a close loop gas system

[@kailashnarayansingh1211]

why dont u use carbon arc for generating electricity

[@crystalyeowchingching1036]

Cool

[@kennyclement2823]

This is bound to be sooo cost inefective

[@mayurdesai04]

not as that of our planet

[@jared9394]

I want one of those scooters! :)

[@zahariburgess3660]

good news, you can make one!: www.instructables.com/Weed-Eater-Powered-Scooter/

[@birdgirl8390]

8 years later and people through hands over getting an electrical scooter that'll potentially explode and set your shit on fire.

[@renanmonteirobarbosa8129]

wall they did is a Sabatier process and used insane ammounts of electricity to create methanol, it could have been methane too and some other options. Not really sustainable.

[@Prabhakar]

can create revolution

[@ThatPixelGuy]

How much energy to fuel the heater though

[@Will-ql5db]

Let me guess, For every ONE unit of fuel energy recycled, you are required to input 9 or 10 TIMES that amount of energy in the form of compressors, refrigerators, heaters, ELECTROLYSIS, etc, etc, etc. This is a gimmick.

[@waqarusmani2201]

Sir what happen if co2 react with water vapor

[@BMC_self-invent]

I would be nice to take the carbon out of the air, turn it into a powder, bury it, and extract the diamonds.

[@ravenous9577]

cullis102 orrrr you could just synthetically produce the diamonds..?

[@NikGPunto]

cullis102

[@troyw5832]

👍👍👍👍👍Hay looking into hydrogen capture and carbon for a pressed for bond to make hydrocarbon (frackn 😨)

[@hariprasadhere001]

Petroleum companies would not want this to happen.

[@aletrip642]

They should show How to make it at home

[@nicolemelanson9402]

Works or not? Its still better to use 5 b on these types of ressearch for the worlds #1 problem than to uss it for solutions to heal an ego.happy birthday

[@schmalzilla1985]

I thought carbon monoxide was a bigger problem in the atmosphere. More so than carbon dioxide.

[@phatmeow7764]

why can't we make the entire process less energy intensive by using methanol as fuel instead of turning it into gasoline??

[@carbondioxide8113]

Are you breaking plate

[@flosh2walkthrough672]

Drives of in a cloud of smoke 😂

[@crtmojo2705]

Once we have the installation of solar and wind virtually everywhere on every roof; then we can make different combustible fuels on the cheap. This will be very interesting in the market if we start seeing many different types of vehicles because of an abundance of fuel types at low costs. Ev and hydrogen and ethanol and more just waiting for critical mass of renewable energy.

[@londonghostar]

This is good for Mars rovers missions if you can produce electricity on the planet the day we send deliveries in thousands.

[@bobthebomb1596]

Just what Musk is planning to do

[@TheLegitAlpha]

Recycling greenhouse gasses? Shut up and take my money!

[@terencegalland]

thats what you would call the ultimate recycling i guess

[@comradedog4075]

And 2020 if they got it to power a Jet engine. So that's a thing

[@sau002]

I hope they succeed.

[@wijpke]

Interesting but just grow sunflowers and make biodiesel 😂 so much simpler

[@ftr98]

This was eight years ago. Why don't we really use this?

[@Alive79311]

I wonder how long it will take before these dudes disappear?!

[@schmalzilla1985]

I don't see this becoming that big. In the next 100 years fusion power and other clean alternative fuels will become affordable. Hell vehicles may be powered by a small fusion reactor for all we know at this present time.

[@OneTequilaTwoTequila]

Not as long as there's idiot drivers on the road. They'll be crashing cars and exploding reactors left, right, and center.

[@schmalzilla1985]

@@OneTequilaTwoTequila fusion isn't fission. Fission is passive because the elements used, decay regardless of whether or not it is being used for power. Fusion stops the moment the pressure from the containment stops.

[@wpelfeta]

pretty cool. If we ever wanted to terraform a planet that was close to Earth climate but slightly too warm but had co2/water, you could use wind turbines to draw kinetic energy out of the air, which would lower air temperature, then store that excess electrical energy in hydrocarbon form. And pump the hydrocarbons into the ground to permanently capture the energy out of the system, overall cooling the planet.

[@topsecret1837]

True, but you have to consider energy usage by humans and the dramatically increasing amounts used per person, as well as the increased numbers of people. Pumping hydrocarbons into the ground would not be a useful way of reducing carbon emissions when the most important goal is to get the excess carbon away from the environment in the first place.

[@MrAnonymousRandom]

I'm somewhat skeptical. Aren't combustion reactions extremely hard to reverse?

[@jont2576]

if this technology can be developed for military purposes,armies everywhere will buy it and spend billions upon billions.....carbon based fuel is very important,the germans lost wwii cause of a shortage of oil.

[@rickyjulian496]

Shld turn all that distilled methanol at the distilleries and make petrol for generators to distill it with... Wonder how much energy you'd lose. You always lose energy and the engine is least efficient.. We must not waste...

[@Jacob_EstateAgent]

To think none of the billionaires and governments are investing into this is proof enough that humanity is doomed .

[@kajallison8896]

you realise we are like a big co2 to fuel reactor too.

[@xcalie22]

I think you'll find we take in fuel and oxygen and expel CO2. Photosynthesis uses CO2, not us.

[@reinux]

reminds me of when a dog pukes and eats its own puke.

[@lm2193]

i think China will most probably invest in your research. go approach them.

[@KENKENNIFF]

This is the fundamental problem that make me pessimistic about any solution to problems caused by the population explosion. People like having lots of kids.

[@pachma405]

Why would anyone invest in this when they can make trillions from electric vehicles?

[@tohopes]

how about a machine that takes CO2 out of the air and turns it into farts?

[@sushanalone]

Big oil is not going to like this.

[@L.A.97.]

Problem solved then.

[@NewZealandPakeha]

😕

[@kongthai..]

British ingenuity. 😜

[@jessicaandtrains7768]

CO2 is a closed loop. Grow more photosynthesizing organisms that harvest CO2 efficiently and abandon all this nonsense of using lowest energy state substances to make fuels.

[@jofatorius]

Comeon... All this inefficient complexity so you can burn it inefficiently again? Just use that electricity and power electric motor with it...

[@kevinbreslin5718]

Use it for aviation fuel. Very hard to replace air transport with electric motors. Maybe only transocianic.

[@scottyg4605]

Wow 1 pint of fuel per day 😱 and about $20 in electricity to produce it 😱 scale that up to industrial and for $400 you can fill your car up 😰 that's Amazing, producing 10x more CO2 than is removed from the Air 😵

[@titaniumdiveknife]

.....and will continue to be developed in 50years time. Gg nub

[@scottyg4605]

Just plant a tree ???????

[@nishasrivastava6044]

we are making co2 into petrol and we are using petrol to make more co2

[@Ufphen]

its a closed system which means no added co2 to the atmoshpere just use it and put it back

[@RadekZielinski.]

No no. We are using power to change the co2 into petrol... and then petrol becomes sort of a energy holder (unreliable dirty battery).

[@jmuniz15]

Nisha Srivastava better than converting oil into petrol

[@pratikborse5369]

MR'S Nisha Srivastava can you help me in project of conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons.

[@swapnil5282]

Hi Nisha ..you look beautiful

[@XDragonsXCryX]

[@revathyb5526]

Electric cars and drivers less cars gona be our future