British Scientists Create Gasoline From Thin Air (And Water)!

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With gas prices inching up, as well as, the constant reminder of the harmful environmental impact of fossil fuels, the quest to find another source of fuel has heated up considerably. Over the last few years, we have seen many amazing alternatives ranging from electricity to bio-fuel but none come even close to this latest invention - Fuel manufactured from air and water! That is exactly what engineers and scientists at U.K. based Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS) claim to have created.

In order to manufacture this magical 'green' gasoline, the team begins by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and hydrogen from water. The two gases are then combined in a reactor. Then, with the help of a catalyst, the hydrocarbon mixture is converted into methanol, which is then transformed into usable fuel using a commonly known procedure called the MOBIL methanol-to-gasoline reaction.

Aside from the obvious advantage of using up harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this synthetic fuel is also better for the environment. That's because it uses the exact raw materials that are required to make methanol and, therefore, does not create the harmful byproducts that result when fossil fuels are burned.

This breakthrough technique that took two years and $1.6 million pounds to develop is of course still in its infancy. In the last three months, the engineers at AFS have only been able to create a total of 5 liters (1.32 gallons) of the synthetic gasoline. However, Air Fuel Synthesis CEO Peter Harrison believes that since the method has been proven, making the fuel on a larger scale will not be that difficult. That's because the raw materials are abundantly available, and the refining process involves many of the steps that are already being used in the commercial manufacturing of other products. This means that the equipment for mass production can be just bought and assembled.

In fact, AFS is already planning a commercial refinery that will be ready for larger scale fuel production by 2015. However, the gas produced will not be sold to stations around the country, but instead be reserved for race cars and other vehicles that require special fuel.

Also since the actual cost of producing this amazing gas is not yet known, it is hard to determine whether it will ever be freely available to the general public. But the fact that something this radical has been developed is good news for all of us!

Resources: geekosystem.com, treehugger.com,newsdaily.com

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322 Comments
  • fencerdeer
    fencerdeerabout 12 years
    eeek please cheaper gas yay
    • ???about 12 years
      this is so epic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      • Let's Go Greenabout 12 years
        you can know all the exact info over here. this is the real article about this issue. :)
        • Margeaux Nabout 12 years
          How could they dooo thatttt?
          • markabout 12 years
            thats wack. i bet its not real or it can be but the british? really them making gasoline. if there so smart why dont they make nukes instead of gasoline?IDK but that is my opinine
            • edward.about 12 years
              this is so graent
              • ian 101about 12 years
                cool
                • spottedpath
                  spottedpathabout 12 years
                  Wow
                  • MMSMirandaS3about 12 years
                    After reading this article I thought that it was preety neat how the scientest can change thin air and water into gasoline.This gas wont be sold to stations.Instad they reaserved the gas for race cars and other vehicles that require special fuel.The actual cost of the gas is not known yet.This radical fact has been developed is good news for all of us.
                    • MMSTylerS11about 12 years
                      This is amazing! I love that we could make a gassoline that is not harming the envirnment. I wish this could be sold to the public so we can stop using fossle fuels. I hope this does not cost a lot if it comes to the public. I wonder if they are able to do this in a short period of time since they know how to do it now. Great job AFS.