UK Researchers Create Gasoline Out of Thin Air and Water

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of a gallon of gas has risen to $3.82 last month from $1.17 just 10 years ago, and there does not seem to be an end in sight to that rise. And, as we are running out of fossil fuels, global warming, due largely in part to carbon emissions, is becoming an increasing problem. Now, a small company in the United Kingdom has perhaps hit upon the holy grail of clean energy: they have managed to convert water and air into petroleum.

Air Fuel Synthesis has been working on the project since August. Using a small refinery, they have manufactured five liters (1.3 gallons) of petroleum from the carbon dioxide in water and air, with none of the additives like sulfur. The process extracts carbon dioxide and combines it in a reactor which, along with a catalyst, creates methanol. The methanol is then converted into petroleum.

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