new power source

[jaeger115]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... ng_energy/

Finally something to help reduce global warming!

[Wicked Pilot]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... ng_energy/

Finally something to help reduce global warming!

It looks interesting, but I doubt if that type of power would sustain a modern industrialized society.

[jaeger115]

It looks interesting, but I doubt if that type of power would sustain a modern industrialized society.

If there's enough, it should because modern industralized society produces plenty of it. [/quote]

[Darth Wong]

I don't think it will produce any power at all. It looks more like an endeavour to reduce greenhouse gases, not to produce power.

[aerius]

Even supposing that it does work, they're turning CO2 into hydrocarbons, and unless things have really changed those hydrocarbons will be getting burned eventually and release CO2 all over again. Basically it ends up as a way of recycling gases, and in theory you could balance out the amount of CO2 entering and leaving the air.

Assuming that you can get power out of the conversion process, you're still building up large amounts of hydrocarbons, the question then becomes what do you do with it? If you burn it the CO2 goes right back into the air, and storing it ain't gonna be fun or easy either. In theory we could run our vehicles on the hydrocarbons produced by the process and cut our dependence on oil but I doubt we could produce that much fuel. It's interesting for sure but it won't have any feasible applications for a while yet.

[Shinova]

Won't happen. People will probably blow it off as too expensive or are too uncertain of the benefits it provides.

Additionally, I vaguely remember hydrocarbons being harmful to the environment in some way...can't remember. Either way, the world's powers will probably blow it off and go for oil like they've always done.

[/pessimism]

[Darth Wong]

To be honest, this idea seems about as feasible as collecting bovine fart gas (which, by the way, is a huge amount of methane and would be nothing to sneeze at).