Singapore Scientists Say Can Turn CO2 Into Biofuel
Date: 17-Apr-09
Country: SINGAPORE
Singapore Scientists Say Can Turn CO2 Into Biofuel Photo: Yiorgos Karahalis
A
sticker is seen on the car of an eco-friendly team that completed a "Grease
to Greece" rally from London to Athens August 27, 2008.
Photo: Yiorgos Karahalis
SINGAPORE - Scientists in Singapore say they have found a way to turn
planet-warming carbon dioxide into clean-burning methanol using a process
that uses less energy than previous attempts.
The scientists at the state-backed Institute of Bioengineering and
Nanotechnology said on Thursday they used non-toxic organocatalysts to make
ethanol, a biofuel that is also used as an industrial feedstock.
In a statement, the institute said the team, led by Yugen Zhang, used
N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), an organocatalyst in the chemical reaction
with carbon dioxide.
NHCs are stable and the reaction between NHCs and carbon dioxide can take
place under mild conditions in dry air, the statement said, adding only a
small amount of the catalyst was needed.
The process also used hydrosilane, a combination of silica and hydrogen.
"Hydrosilane provides hydrogen, which bonds with carbon dioxide in a
reduction reaction. This carbon dioxide reduction is efficiently catalysed
by NHCs even at room temperature," Zhang said in the statement.
"Methanol can be easily obtained from the product of the carbon dioxide
reaction," Zhang added.
Previous attempts to turn CO2 into more useful products have required more
energy input and a much longer reaction time, the team said.
But they didn't say how the process could be scaled up to fight climate
change by capturing and transforming some of the billions of tonnes of CO2
produced annually by burning fossil fuels.
(Reporting by David Fogarty; Editing by David Fox)
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