From Cornell University's The Cornell Daily Sun:
Cornell Researchers Use CO2 to Make Electricity
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been long characterized as one of the leading causes of global warming. And with the seemingly limitless sources of emission — from general breathing of countless living species to vehicular and industrial emissions — the amount of carbon dioxide seems to be ever increasing. It is then, a huge waste of a resource when you consider how comparatively limited the human use of this abundant gas is.
The paper “The O2-assisted Al/CO2 electrochemical cell: A system for CO2 capture/conversion and electric power generation”, published in Science Advances, aims to change that.
Prof. Lynden Archer, chemical and biomolecular engineering, the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering, and Wajdi Al Sadat, grad — who are the authors of this paper — have created a cell which can use carbon dioxide to produce electricity via electrochemical reactions.
Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it - I call these kinds of announcements an Aisle 14 announcement. I will believe it when these units are for sale at Walmart on Aisle 14 for $49.97. CO2 is an ash - it is the end result of combustion and has no more energy to release. What are they having to pump into their cell to drive this reaction?
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