Chemical process could make climate nemesis carbon a valuable resource

Three prototypes to show carbon converted to methanol can serve as an eco-friendly fuel of the future.



The boat is the first in the world to be fitted with an electric engine powered by a fuel cell containing methanol _ a form of alcohol that inevitably prompts “booze cruise” jokes among passengers. What makes the boat really stand out, though, is the fact that the methanol is produced using a chemical process which draws carbon out of the air.



The UN’s panel of scientific advisers on climate change has predicted that unless carbon emissions peak within the coming years, average temperatures around the world will rise by more than 2 degrees C with potentially catastrophic results.

The boat is one of three prototypes designed to show that carbon converted to methanol – in this case with power from a nearby hydroelectric plants _ can serve as an eco-friendly fuel of the future. The others are a car than can run for 500 kilometres on methanol and a house capable of producing and storing all the electricity it needs to be self-sufficient.





“If your basement is flooding, your top priority is to turn off the faucets, not reach for the mops and buckets,” said Jones, who is co-director of Climate Interactive, a think-tank that uses computer models to simulate solutions to global warming.




To most, the notion of going “carbon neutral” by the middle of the century will require a broad mix of measures, from reducing emissions to recapturing some and even using technologies that haven’t been invented yet.

A half-hour drive from Lake Baldeney lies one of Europe’s oldest steelworks. The site in Duisburg, next to the Rhine river, was founded in 1891 and to this day a vast mesh of pipes, railways and chimneys covers the 10-square-kilometre (four-square-mile) site.



“Carbon dioxide isn’t a waste,” Achatz said. “It’s a resource.”


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