They seek to use CO2 to produce fuel and reduce air pollution

A group of scientists from different countries, including some Chilean researchers, have found a way to use carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main causes of air pollution and of global warming, as fuel.

The result of the process is methane, which can be used as synthetic natural gas, according to one of the researchers, Dr. Francisco Gracia, of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of Chile

. According to him, not only can it mitigate a problem that threatens our planet for years, but also increase the production of fuel "non-fossil" and therefore non-polluting.

The most recent edition of the scientific journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, would have a huge decontamination potential in the opinion of officials, says Informe21.

"Our work Jo seeks to take advantage of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and to produce methane that can be reused as synthetic natural gas.Our data confirm that with this method we can produce 5 times more fuel that's before, "said Dr. Gracia in a text provided to Efe.

The scientific development of the project took about a year to researchers, added the expert. Academic Department of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Materials of the aforementioned faculty of the University of Chile

To achieve the desired result, we used reaction systems of the Laboratory of Catalysis and Energy and the characterization material for facultative materials. such as an X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM).

The next step is to consolidate this information into the development of a system that will carry the practice of scientific discovery, said Gracia, who is also deputy director of Núcleo Milenio Multimat and in charge he adds, he adds, "a compact device, similar to the catalytic converters of gasoline vehicles, which can be installed in boiler stacks or thermoelectric power stations to reduce CO2 emissions". .

Manuel Romero-Sáez, of the Quality, Metrology and Production Group of the Metropolitan Technological Institute of Medellín (Colombia) participated in the research; Ana Belén Dongil, doctor of the Catalysis and Chemical Oil Institute (Spain); Noelia Benito, PhD in Physics, mentions Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology from the Department of Physics of the University of Concepción

Néstor Escalona, ​​Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Rodrigo Espinoza and Francisco Gracia, both from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Materials FCFM of the University of Chile.