On November 18th 2014, A German company, Sunfire GmbH, announced that it had created a machine that can turn water and carbon dioxide into synthetic fossil fuels. The machine uses Power-to-Liquids technology to reassemble hydrogen and carbon molecules into synthetic petrol, diesel, and kerosene.
Sunfire GmbH used a technique that was based on the Fischer-Tropsch process that was developed in 1925. They also used solid oxide electrolyser cells to turn water into steam. The oxygen was then removed from the steam leaving only the hydrogen. Then carbon dioxide that was either harvested from the atmosphere, precipitated at biogas facilities, or retrieved by using waste gas processing, was converted into carbon monoxide.
The hydrogen and carbon monoxide was then synthesized into high purity fuels using Power-to-Liquids technology. The remaining excess heat was then used to create more steam, there by perpetuating the process. Sunfire GmbH says that this ensures an efficiency rate of 70%.
The machine, at this point is only for demonstration and feasibility purposes. It has a capacity for recycling Co2 at a rate of about 3.2 tons per ton of fuel created and the ability to create one barrel of fuel per day.
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