Researchers convert CO2 into biofuel

|25 November 2016|

South Korea

Researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea have developed methods to make biofuels from carbon dioxide (CO₂) which could power trucks and buses.

Professor Jae Sung Lee – from UNIST’s Energy and Chemical Engineering department – led a study which looked at how to develop processes that can move us a step closer to eliminating greenhouse gas. Their paper published in the journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, demonstrates it is possible to ‘direct CO₂ conversion to liquid transportation fuels by reacting with renewable hydrogen (H₂) generated by solar water splitting’.

Professor Lee said the new mineral (delafossite-CuFeO₂₎ catalyst converts CO₂ into liquid hydrocarbon-based fuels offering a “new opportunity for recycling CO₂ into valuable fuels and chemicals.”

The team believes this development has the potential to ‘revolutionise the automobile industry’ and in turn help remove harmful CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Picture courtesy of UNIST