Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say they have made a breakthrough in clean energy in relation to the process of converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel using photosynthesis.

In their experiment, published in the Energy and Environmental Science journal, the U.S. Department of Energy scientists at the Berkeley lab were for the first time able to “successfully demonstrate the approach of going from carbon dioxide directly to target products, namely ethanol and ethylene, at energy conversion efficiencies rivaling natural counterparts,” Science Daily explained. Natural counterparts refers to plants.

Said one of the scientists on the project, “Our work here shows that we have a plausible path to making fuels directly from sunlight.”

Solar-to-Fuel System ♻s CO2 to Make Ethanol and Ethylene https://t.co/ISXjamivoT pic.twitter.com/VBKGd0ITh3

— Berkeley Lab (@BerkeleyLab) September 20, 2017

The Energy Department’s Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, which was launched in 2010 for solar research studies, has identified a sun-to-fuel system as one of its primary goals.

In another development at the DOE Berkeley lab, scientists there have come up with an electrocatalyst comprised of copper particles for breaking down CO2 for the formation of multicarbon fuels such as ethylene, ethanol, and propanol. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Remarked one of the lead scientists in the effort, “We discovered a catalyst for carbon dioxide reduction operating at high current density with a record low overpotential that is about 300 millivolts less than typical electrocatalysts,” Science Daily separately reported.

Copper Catalyst Yields High Efficiency CO2-to-Fuels Conversion https://t.co/Sqt0ezU7lZ pic.twitter.com/JLheAhJDBI

— Berkeley Lab (@BerkeleyLab) September 28, 2017

There appears to be a lot happening on the CO2 front. Earlier this month as Natural News detailed, Australian researchers published a study in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A about combing CO2 with hydrogen to produce methane (the primary component of natural gas) and water, thereby suggesting a path forward for a carbon-neutral fuel. Also, University of Kentucky researchers and their counterparts in Argentina recently identified a method to reduce the amount of CO2 produced during photosynthesis.

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and founding editor of Natural News, has previously outlined how carbon dioxide gets a lot of unfair bad press as a result of climate change and global warming activism as enabled by an ever-compliant media. With respect to CO2, Mike has noted about whom he describes as photosynthesis deniers that they seem unaware that “This essential molecule supports the entire web of life on our planet, and without it, all plants, animals and humans would die.”

The Health Ranger has previously called for pumping carbon dioxide from CO2-generating conventional power plants into vast greenhouse facilities that could produce organic crops. “Coal-fired power plants can produce both electricity and food nutrition at the same time,” Adams noted. (Related: Read more about greenhouse gas emissions at ClimateScience.news)

Sources include:

NewsCenter.lbl.gov

ScienceDaily.com

ScienceDaily.com