Dresden , Germany ( CNN ) -- Would n't it be great if you could simply grab carbon dioxide from the air and turn it back into fuel ? According to Germany-based renewable energy start-up Sunfire , you can . `` In fact , the idea has been around since at least the 70s , '' says Christian von Olshausen , the company 's Chief Technology Officer . But the process is expensive . `` For as long as fossil fuels have been cheap and readily available , there 's not been sufficient demand , '' he adds . Now -- with the world 's finite stock of crude oil on the wane , and amidst pressure to reduce global carbon dioxide ( C02 ) emissions -- the idea of converting those very carbons back into what Olshausen calls `` synthetic fuels '' is becoming more financially viable . `` The combustion of synthetic fuel does not increase the amount of C02 in the atmosphere , '' he explains . `` This is because the carbon is being continuously recycled . '' Synthetic fuel can come in the form of everything from diesel to gasoline to wax . But while the process is simple in theory ( see factbox ) , it is unwieldy in practice -- demanding ultra-high temperatures which gobble up electricity . `` The operation is only practical now that we have relatively cheap sources of renewable electricity to power it , '' says Olshausen . Using conventional electricity was never an option , he adds , after all `` what 's the point of turning carbon into fuel if the electricity you 're using to do it burns up more carbon than you started with ? '' But this highlights an uncomfortable fact : Sunfire 's synthetic fuel contains only 70 % of the energy that goes into making it , as heat is lost during the process . So , why waste hard-won green electricity to produce old-fashioned petrol ? Dr. Jeff Hardy is head of the UK 's National Energy Research Network ( NERN ) . He says that , while all efforts should be made to reduce our dependence on liquid fuels , it may not be possible for some industries : . `` The thing with fuel is that it offers very high density energy storage ... for areas like long haul aviation , it 's hard to see what could replace it . '' According to the CIA World Factbook , global oil consumption is currently about 30 billion barrels a year . Hardy points out that , even if we reduce our thirst for fossil fuels to just one or two percent of this figure over the next century , we may still need millions of barrels for things like commercial flight that are unable to use electricity for power . Could synthetic fuel really plug that gap ? At present , Sunfire is moving out of the lab and is talking to car and aircraft-makers in the hope of increasing fuel production to an industrial scale . They are aiming for production to hit one barrel a day within the next few years . If that does n't sound like a lot , that 's because it 's not . `` This is going to be a long process , '' admits Olshausen . `` I 'd estimate that it will take between one to two decades before we can replace a single digit percent of current demand ( for fuel ) . '' The problem , he says , is developing materials that can resist extraordinarily high temperatures for long periods of time without degrading . `` But we 'll do it , '' insists Olshausen . `` Many innovations in the past century , like the car or the computer , have had to overcome seemingly impossible thermodynamic obstacles . '' Swiss engineer Dominique Kronenberg is certainly hoping that companies like Sunfire will be successful in the long run . He is chief operating officer of Climeworks , a firm that specializes in capturing carbon from the air . `` The question is , what do we do with the carbon once we 've got it ? '' he asks . `` At present , the main markets are quite niche -- things like carbonated fizzy drinks , computer cooling systems and industrial greenhouses . '' It 's no surprise then that Kronenberg and his team have been working with Sunfire to flesh out the logistics of a future partnership . The potential market , he says , is a huge and `` much more profitable than storing the carbon underground , that 's for sure . ''
German company created process to turn carbon dioxide from air into liquid fuel . Theory has been around since 1970s , but implementation too costly until now . Process requires ultra-high temperatures , industrial production a long way off . Technique could also be used to store electricity captured from wind , solar power .