<story><title>Engineers find a new way to convert carbon dioxide into useful products</title><url>https://news.mit.edu/2024/engineers-find-new-way-convert-carbon-dioxide-useful-products-0327</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>alexose</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve spent a decent amount of time learning about this stuff.  Here&amp;#x27;s the lens I use to understand advancements in CO2 reduction:&lt;p&gt;Carbon monoxide is, indeed, an incredibly useful and versatile precursor in many industrial processes.  Sourcing it from CO2 in the air unlocks all sorts of carbon-negative technologies, including sustainable fuels and plastics.  As we begin to wind down fossil fuel extraction, this becomes increasingly important.&lt;p&gt;However, the &lt;i&gt;only&lt;/i&gt; driver of adoption at scale is cost.  Any new method to reduce CO2 must compete not only with established fossil sources, but also more established reduction techniques like RWGS.  Even if there&amp;#x27;s a breakthrough in energy efficiency, as we seem to have here, one must consider the entire system cost as compared to the alternatives.&lt;p&gt;This is why a lot of research isn&amp;#x27;t aiming for straight CO2 reduction, but conversion to C2+ molecules.  This might allow a more efficient pathway from CO2 to more valuable chemicals.  This article linked here suggests that the researchers also have this in mind:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; By swapping in different catalysts, the researchers plan to try making other products such as methanol and ethanol using this approach.&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, this is where the rubber meets the road.  It&amp;#x27;s not just about making carbon monoxide:  It&amp;#x27;s about turning CO2 into value-added molecules.</text></comment>
<story><title>Engineers find a new way to convert carbon dioxide into useful products</title><url>https://news.mit.edu/2024/engineers-find-new-way-convert-carbon-dioxide-useful-products-0327</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>aimonster2</author><text>Sure.  Put it in a greenhouse and make food!  Like I said to another thread, just use CaO-&amp;gt;CaCO3 then go backwards CaCO3-&amp;gt;CaO at the point that you&amp;#x27;re using it as long as the heating doesn&amp;#x27;t adversely effect the greenhouse environment.</text></comment>