Let carbon dioxide change fuel

Carbon dioxide can also be turned into automotive fuel

Carbon dioxide fuel conversion

Recently, a group of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a very meaningful experiment. With the help of genetically engineered microorganisms, they converted carbon dioxide into isobutanol and isopentane that can be used as fuel for automobiles and internal combustion engines. Alcohols make carbon dioxide incredible "reverse burning" and "closed circulation". As a result, we can both produce gasoline-like fuel and at the same time we can protect existing infrastructure and alleviate the global warming crisis to some extent. How does this technology make a magical change in carbon dioxide? What value can it create for us as a "carbon capture and utilization" new technology? What kind of technology has accumulated behind carbon dioxide fuel technology?

Using bacteria to "assemble" carbon-based greenhouse gases to regain "freshmen"

Liaoning Daily: Prof. Chen, how are you! With the rapid development of industry, the ecological environment for human existence is being severely damaged. One of the most influential is the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect, coupled with the tightness of fossil fuels. Recently, a study published by the University of California in the United States has made people brighten up. This technology that uses genetically modified microorganisms to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels allows us to see the dawn of solving the above problems. Can you briefly introduce this technology?

Xiaohua Chen: Yes. Contributing to this technology is the researcher at the Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, who genetically modified a microorganism called R. eutropha H16, using carbon dioxide. As a single carbon source, electricity is used as the only energy input to produce isobutanol and isoamyl alcohol in an electronic bioreactor.

It should be said that the rational use of carbon dioxide has become a research subject of common concern in the world. Carbon dioxide is the final product of hydrocarbon combustion, and its properties are extremely stable and not easily activated. In recent years, people have adopted a variety of methods (such as homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, pyrolysis, biological activation, etc.) to activate carbon dioxide, and have made considerable progress, and synthesized methane, methanol, and formic acid. Organic compounds or polymer compounds. The study used biotechnology to activate carbon dioxide.

Liaoning Daily: What kind of process does carbon dioxide fuel need to undergo?

Xiaohua Chen: Essentially, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, used this kind of electrobioreactor to convert electrical energy into liquid fuel. The whole process is similar to the photosynthesis of biological systems. We know that photosynthesis is a chemical reaction process that converts light energy into chemical energy and stores it in energy. It can be divided into two parts: light reaction and dark reaction. The light reaction must be carried out in the light environment to convert light energy into light energy. It is chemical energy; dark reaction is the process of converting absorbed carbon dioxide into sugar. This process does not require light. Researchers create new fuels by separating the two major components of biophotosynthesis: First, solar panels are used to convert solar energy into electricity, producing formic acid to complete the photoreaction. Then, the intermediate, the formic acid that was previously produced, was used to drive the carbon dioxide-enriched R. fulmensii H16 to produce fuel to achieve a dark reaction.

Liaoning Daily: How does the enrichment of Ralstonia H16 work at a microscopic level?

Chen Xiaohua: Like the photosynthesis of plants, R. eutropha H16 enriches carbon dioxide through the Calvin cycle. It works in much the same way as the automotive auto-assembly line in life: R. eutropha H16 uses acetyl-CoA (as activated acetic acid) as an assembly line for conveyors and automatic robotic hands, using carbon dioxide as raw material or Parts, which are assembled into 4 or 5 carbon organic compounds containing high energy, eventually form organic compounds such as isobutanol and isoamyl alcohol or high molecular compounds.

Ingenious use of carbon dioxide for environmental protection and energy

Liaoning Daily: Where can CO2 as a raw material for conversion be obtained?

Chen Xiaohua: Carbon dioxide is usually produced by the burning of organic compounds, the respiration of cells, and the fermentation of microorganisms. According to the latest data disclosed by the United Nations, global carbon dioxide concentration has risen to 387 ppm in recent years due to industrial production and other reasons. Therefore, there is abundant reserves of carbon dioxide as a raw material for conversion.