Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere and is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans. While transparent to visible light, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, absorbing and emitting infrared radiation at its two infrared-active vibrational frequencies (see the section "Structure and bonding" above). Light emission from the earth's surface is most intense in the infrared region between 200 and 2500 cm, as opposed to light emission from the much hotter sun which is most intense in the visible region. Absorption of infrared light at the vibrational frequencies of atmospheric carbon dioxide traps energy near the
Direct carbon fuel cell Direct carbon fuel cell A Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC) is a fuel cell that uses a carbon rich material as a fuel such as bio-mass or coal. The cell produces energy by combining carbon and oxygen, which releases carbon dioxide as a by-product. It also called coal fuel cells (CFCs), carbon-air fuel cells (CAFCs), direct carbon/coal fuel cells (DCFCs), and DC-SOFC. The total reaction of the cell is C + O → CO. The process in half cell notation: Despite this release of carbon dioxide, the direct carbon fuel cell is more environmentally friendly than traditional carbon burning techniques.