[ExI] For the chemistry buffs

[BillK]

On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 4:25 AM, Keith Henson wrote:
> I have a paper I wrote related to synthetic fuels but not dependent on
> power satellites.
>
> It's a proposal to use natural gas and coal to make synthetic
> petrochemicals but not using oil.  Oddly enough it looks like it might
> be a profitable business.
>
>

Did you see this news report?
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/fuel/9619269/British-engineers-produce-amazing-petrol-from-air-technology.html>
Revolutionary new technology that produces “petrol from air” is being
produced by a British firm, it emerged tonight.
By Andrew Hough, graphic by Mark Oliver    18 Oct 2012

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 Synthesis, then uses the carbon dioxide and
hydrogen to produce methanol which in turn is passed through a
gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol.
----------------


BillK