I found this story online at the New York Times so fascinating that I had to share it.

Two scientists are proposing a concept for removing carbon dioxide from the air and turning it back into gasoline.  They call their idea Green Freedom.  The air would be blown over a liquid solution of potassium carbonate, the CO2 would be extracted and subjected to a chemical reaction that would turn it into fuel.  Sounds simple enough.  And is it actually doable?  Yes!  So why hasn’t anyone done it yet?  Because apparently it takes a ton of energy to produce, preferably a huge nuclear power plant!

The article goes on to evaluate and compare all alternative fuels we are looking into nowadays - hydrogen, biofuels, and electric cars.  They all have their pros and cons; but here’s a paragraph I found really interesting:

Gasoline, it turns out, is an almost ideal fuel (except that it produces 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon). It is easily transported, and it generates more energy per volume than most alternatives. If it can be made out of carbon dioxide in the air, the Los Alamos concept may mean there is little reason to switch, after all. The concept can also be adapted for jet fuel; for jetliners, neither hydrogen nor batteries seem plausible alternatives.

Gas is the most perfect fuel!?!  If this idea can actually come true, we could have the perfect close-loop cycle: gas to CO2 back to gas.

Here’s the link to the full article written by Kenneth Chang on 2.19.08 at the New York Times.