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MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

(news.mit.edu)
173 points rbanffy | 2 comments | 13 Nov 24 15:42 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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rhelz ◴[13 Nov 24 17:11 UTC] No.42127904[source]▶
To remove the co2 we put into the atmosphere will always take way more energy than we got out of putting it into the atmosphere in the first place. That is just thermodynamics.

To remove all the co2 we put into the atmosphere would take more energy than we extracted from fossil fuels since the industrial revolution. And all that energy would, of course, have to be produced in an absolutely carbon-free manner.

So this is and will remain an entirely impractical method of combatting global warming. MIT engineers know this. The people who funded this research know this. Why are they doing this?

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1. zelphirkalt ◴[13 Nov 24 17:22 UTC] No.42128020[source]▶
Positive interpretation: Because they hope to find a method of doing it, that does not require too much energy, so that that method can be done using renewables.

Negative interpretation: Because of look/appearances/prestige.

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2. rhelz ◴[15 Nov 24 02:44 UTC] No.42143522[source]▶
// That does not require too much energy //

It inherently takes more energy to "unburn" co2 than you got from burning it in the first place. We burn co2-producing fuels just because of this fact--they give us tons of energy!

But it would take yet more tons of energy to unburn it. That is just thermodynamics. There is no magic science wand to wave here.