May 17, 2020

CO2 to Fuel: Creating Gasoline Without Crude Oil

energy digital
Carbon Sciences
Co2-to-Fuel technology
3 min
Company to Accelerate Development of Its Breakthrough Catalyst for More Than 2,000 Existing Steam Reforming Syngas Plants That Reform Natural Gas Into High Value Products
Written by Byron Elton As a 2011 UC Davis study indicates, the global oil supply is set to run dry 90 years before replacements, such as renewable en...


Written by Byron Elton


As a 2011 UC Davis study indicates, the global oil supply is set to run dry 90 years before replacements, such as renewable energy, are ready. Such measurements are helpful in driving development and establishing market-ready deadlines, but perhaps their largest contribution is the conversation they spark about how to address this problem.

The biggest obstacle to replacing petroleum is that alternative fuel technologies not only have severe limitations, but are decades away from being affordable without substantial government subsidies. They also require expensive infrastructure changes. While waiting for alternatives to mature, a technology that bridges our current and future energy consumption habits is needed to wean us from petroleum-based fuel.

Consider the good and bad aspects of today’s energy challenges. First, the bad news: each and every day the United States consumes 20 million barrels of crude oil. We produce seven million barrels, which means that we need to purchase 13 million barrels from foreign sources. At current prices of about $100 a barrel, that adds up to nearly $1.3 billion a day that we send outside the country, or $474.5 billion a year.

Now for some good news: there are technologies being developed that could produce copious amounts of gasoline and other transportation fuels by using other fossil fuels such as natural gas. The United States has more natural gas than any other country in the world. Known estimated reserves are 4,000 trillion cubic feet – the equivalent of 700 billion barrels of crude oil, or three times the current amount in Saudi Arabia. A colorless, odorless and tasteless fuel, natural gas has gained support from oil industry heavyweights, including gas and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens who is campaigning to reduce the use of natural gas for generating electricity and increasing its use as a transportation fuel.

Carbon Sciences is working on a method that combines methane from natural gas with carbon dioxide (CO2) to create a syngas, or fuel precursor, that can then be converted into gasoline. Acting as a drop-in replacement for crude oil-based gasoline, it can be used in current infrastructure, supply chain and vehicles—an enormous advantage over other fuel technologies, such as biofuels or compressed natural gas (CNG).


Dry reforming efforts in the past have suffered from low conversion efficiency and premature catalyst deactivation. The latter problem has arisen because the catalyst used has not been of high enough quality to maintain robustness throughout the entire dry reforming process.

Carbon Sciences' use of a new catalyst, composed of nickel and cobalt and supported by aluminum and magnesium, has allowed for conversion of methane and selectivity to CO and H2 that is as high at the end of the reforming process as it is in the beginning. After thousands of hours of laboratory and commercial testing, the catalyst maintained high conversion efficiency and, unlike those before it, resisted deactivation under harsh industrial operating conditions. This catalyst allows for the creation of a synthesis gas, or syngas, from natural gas and CO2. The syngas is then converted into drop-in fuels using a well-known Fischer-Tropsch process.

Compared to traditional methane reforming processes, no rare earth metals are required, bringing costs down further. Additionally, the methane required can be easily sourced from traditional natural gas fields, or other sources including landfills, algae and biomass, coal-fired plants, flare gas and livestock gas.

Once manufacturing partners have been secured, the new technology will serve as a substitute for gasoline and other fuels, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and contributing thousands of new jobs to an emerging industry.

The world is not facing an energy crisis; it is facing a fuel crisis. We are not running out of electricity, we are running out of cheap, easy crude oil. The utilization of domestic natural gas and greenhouse gases to make transportation fuels will benefit the environment and the economy, create well-paying jobs and achieve the energy independence that we have longed for and talked about for too long.



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Jul 30, 2021

Major move forward for UK’s nascent marine energy sector

3 min
The UK’s nascent marine energy sector starts exporting electricity to the grid as the most powerful tidal turbine in the world begins to generate power

Although the industry is small and the technologies are limited, marine-based energy systems look to be taking off as “the world’s most powerful tidal turbine” begins grid-connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre

At around 74 metres long, the turbine single-handedly holds the potential to supply the annual electricity demand to approximately 2,000 homes within the UK and offset 2,200 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Orbital Marine Power, a privately held Scottish-based company, announced the turbine is set to operate for around 15 years in the waters surrounding Orkney, Scotland, where the 2-megawatt O2 turbine weighing around 680 metric tons will be linked to a local on-land electricity network via a subsea cable. 

How optimistic is the outlook for the UK’s turbine bid?

Described as a “major milestone for O2” by CEO of Orbital Marine Power Andrew Scott, the turbine will also supply additional power to generate ‘green hydrogen’ through the use of a land-based electrolyser in the hopes it will demonstrate the “decarbonisation of wider energy requirements.” 

“Our vision is that this project is the trigger to the harnessing of tidal stream resources around the world to play a role in tackling climate change whilst creating a new, low-carbon industrial sector,” says Scott in a statement. 

The Scottish Government has awarded £3.4 million through the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund to support the project’s construction, while public lenders also contributed to the financial requirements of the tidal turbine through the ethical investment platform Abundance Investment.

“The deployment of Orbital Marine Power’s O2, the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, is a proud moment for Scotland and a significant milestone in our journey to net zero,” says Michael Matheson, the Cabinet Secretary for Net-Zero, Energy and Transport for the Scottish Government. 

“With our abundant natural resources, expertise and ambition, Scotland is ideally placed to harness the enormous global market for marine energy whilst helping deliver a net-zero economy.

“That’s why the Scottish Government has consistently supported the marine energy sector for over 10 years.”

However, Orbital Marine CEO Scott believes there’s potential to commercialise the technology being used in the project with the prospect of working towards more efficient and advanced marine energy projects in the future. 

We believe pioneering our vision in the UK can deliver on a broad spectrum of political initiatives across net-zero, levelling up and building back better at the same time as demonstrating global leadership in the area of low carbon innovation that is essential to creating a more sustainable future for the generations to come.” 

The UK’s growing marine energy endeavours

This latest tidal turbine project isn’t a first for marine energy in the UK. The Port of London Authority permitted the River Thames to become a temporary home for trials into tidal energy technology and, more recently, a research project spanning the course of a year is set to focus on the potential tidal, wave, and floating wind technology holds for the future efficiency of renewable energy. The research is due to take place off of the Southwest coast of England on the Isles of Scilly

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