A small company in the north of England has
developed the “air capture” technology to
create synthetic petrol using only air and
electricity. Experts last night hailed the
astonishing breakthrough as a potential
“game-changer” in the battle against climate
change and a saviour for the world’s energy
crisis.
The technology, presented to a London
engineering conference this week, removes
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The
“petrol from air” technology involves taking
sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon
dioxide before "electrolysing" the sodium
carbonate that it produces to form pure
carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is then produced
by electrolysing water vapour captured with
a dehumidifier.
The company, Air Fuel Syndication, then
uses the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to
produce methanol which in turn is passed
through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating
petrol.
Company officials say they had produced five
litres of petrol in less than three months from
a small refinery in Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside.
The fuel that is produced can be used in any
regular petrol tank and, if renewable energy
is used to provide the electricity it could
become “completely carbon neutral”.
The £1.1m project, in development for the
past two years, is being funded by a group of
unnamed philanthropists who believe the
technology could prove to be a lucrative way
of creating renewable energy.
While the technology has the backing of
Britain’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
it has yet to capture the interest of major oil
companies.
But company executives hope to build a large
plant, which could produce more than a
tonne of petrol every day, within two years
and a refinery size operation within the next
15 years.
Tonight Institution of Mechanical Engineers
(IMechE) officials admitted that while the
described the technology as being “too good
to be true but it is true”, it could prove to be
a “game-changer” in the battle against
climate change.
Stephen Tetlow, the IMechE chief executive,
hailed the breakthrough as “truly
groundbreaking”.
“It has the potential to become a great British
success story, which opens up a crucial
opportunity to reduce carbon emissions,” he
said.
“It also has the potential to reduce our
exposure to an increasingly volatile global
energy market.
“The potential to provide a variety of
sustainable fuels for today’s vehicles and
infrastructure is especially exciting.”
Dr Tim Fox, the organisation's head of energy
and environment, added: “Air capture
technology ultimately has the potential to
become a game-changer in our quest to
avoid dangerous climate change.”
Peter Harrison, the company’s 58 year-old
chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph that
he was “excited” about the technology’s
potential, which “uses renewable energy in a
slightly different way”.
“People do find it unusual when I tell them
what we are working on and realise what it
means,” said Mr Harrison, a civil engineer
from Darlington, Co Durham.
“It is an opportunity for a technology to make
an impact on climate change and make an
impact on the energy crisis facing this
country and the world.
"It looks and smells like petrol but it is much
cleaner and we don't have any nasty bits."
