{"id":33999,"date":"2023-06-20T13:09:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T12:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=33999"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:03:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:03:51","slug":"how-sustainable-fuels-created-from-plastic-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/how-sustainable-fuels-created-from-plastic-waste\/33999\/","title":{"rendered":"How are sustainable fuels created from plastic waste?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured carbon dioxide and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable products.<\/p>\n
In tests, carbon dioxide was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels. Plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid \u2013 used in the cosmetics industry.<\/p>\n
The team took carbon dioxide from real-world sources, such as industrial exhausts or the air. The researchers were then able to capture and concentrate the carbon dioxide and convert it into sustainable fuel.<\/p>\n
The results from the study, \u2018Integrated Capture and Solar-driven Utilization of CO2<\/sub> from Flue Gas and Air<\/a>,\u2019 demonstrate an important step toward the production of clean fuels to power the economy.<\/a> The method does not require destructive oil or gas extraction.<\/p>\n However, improvements in the technology are needed before it can be rolled out at an industrial scale.<\/p>\n For many years, Professor Erwin Reisner\u2019s research group has been developing sustainable fuels inspired by photosynthesis. This process occurs when plants convert sunlight into food.<\/p>\n The team used artificial leaves to convert carbon dioxide and water into fuels using just the power of the Sun.<\/p>\n Experiments driven by solar power previously used pure carbon dioxide from a cylinder. For practical use, however, it needs to be able to capture carbon dioxide from industrial processes or from the air.<\/p>\n However, as carbon dioxide is just one of the many types of molecules in the air we breathe, making the technology selective enough to convert diluted carbon dioxide is a major challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just interested in decarbonisation, but de-fossilisation \u2013 we need to completely eliminate fossil fuels in order to create a truly circular economy,\u201d said Reisner.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the medium term, this technology could help reduce carbon emissions by capturing them from industry and turning them into something useful, but ultimately, we need to cut fossil fuels out of the equation entirely and capture CO2<\/sub> from the air.\u201d<\/p>\nThe new process was inspired by photosynthesis<\/h3>\n