???We use up just about every CO2 molecule into the making of methane, CH4. So, the more methane the world consumes, the more CO2 emissions we reduce,??? said Young.
This is ridiculous. Even at 100% efficiency (which it won't be... 100% of the CO and CO2 captured from the power plant will not be consumed in the process) the carbon would just be re-released when the methane is burned.
Granted it could create a permanent feedback loop, with all of the smokestack emissions going back into the plant (after being processed) as methane, but even with that it still doesn't make up for the fact that that carbon was otherwise stored undergound before it was pulled out. It would be better if they did this with the carbon captured from the burning of algae or biomass or some other source where it would have entered the atmosphere anyway.
And I also like the vagueness of it being competitive with 'future natural gas prices'
That means nothing other than it costs more than what n.gas currently costs. By the time n.gas prices rise, other technologies will also be competitive.
The only thing I see that this does is make the hydrogen more stably stored, but it'd be more fascinating if they figured out how to make longer hydrocarbon chains such that it could replace say... gasoline.. at levels denser than ethanol... and do it cheaper than current (subsidized) gasoline prices than 'future' ones.
Still neat but doesn't really seem like anything Fischer and Tropsch didn't already know about (conceptually speaking) almost 100 years ago.... I thought the 'new' in 'news' implied that it would be just that... something 'new'
HyperSolar is announcing its concept for creating natural gas by solving CO2 and wastewater treatment issues.
The carbon emitted by power plant smokestacks could one day help heat your home. A start-up company is attempting to patent its process to manufacture natural gas by combining solar power with carbon dioxide and water.
Santa Barbara, CA. based HyperSolar was inspired by nature: the process mimics photosynthesis. A solar powered nanoparticle system separates hydrogen from water; the hydrogen is then mixed with carbon dioxide, producing methane.
(Chemistry buffs: the former reaction is a form of photoelectrochemical reaction, and the latter is a Sabatier reaction.)
HyperSolar announced its patent application today, is in the conceptual phases of development, and did not name any partnerships. It intends to be competitive with future natural gas prices, and will lower its cost of production by solving wastewater and CO2 disposal problems.
HyperSolar says that the process would be sustainable, and it will co-locate with CO2 emitters or wastewater facilities that produce hydrogen. Existing natural gas infrastructure will transport the fuel to customers. The process can be scaled by adding more vessels and more nanoparticles, explained CEO Tim Young.
“It’s safe to say that if there are people and industry in a municipality… there is guaranteed wastewater and CO2. Ideally for us, it would be a city that gets plenty of sunlight,” said Young.
HyperSolar is positioning itself as a clean source of natural gas that will not have the environment drawbacks associated with traditional drilling or mining. Some natural gas drilling has been linked to groundwater contamination.
“We use up just about every CO2 molecule into the making of methane, CH4. So, the more methane the world consumes, the more CO2 emissions we reduce,” said Young.
