Making fuel from CO2 and sunlight

Cool. [Link]

Scientists from Sandia National Labs have successfully field-tested a machine that uses solar energy to convert CO2 waste from power plants into fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

Cylindrical in shape, the device has both a hot and cold chamber with 14 Frisbee-like rings in the middle. The rings’ outer edges–made of iron oxide–are solar heated to 2,700 degrees which forces the composite to lose oxygen atoms.

As the rings rotate (one revolution a minute), they move in towards the cool chamber. There, carbon dioxide is added and the iron oxide composite takes back its missing oxygen atoms. The resulting carbon monoxide would be used in creating a synthesized liquid combustible fuel.

Invented by Rich Diver, we first discussed the device in January of last year. Until recently, it had only been tested in a laboratory. But a fully hand-built, and much larger, version was just successfully tested. “This is a first-of-its-kind prototype we’re evaluating,” Diver explains.

The device is called the Counter-Rotating-Ring Receiver Reactor Recuperator or the CR5 for short. I think we’ll stick to that shorter title for now. This method of forced-photosynthesis was initially designed for creating cheap abundant hydrogen fuel.