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MIT researchers develop oxygen permeable membrane that converts CO2 to CO

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MIT researchers have developed a new system that could potentially be used for converting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, and thence into useful fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, as well as into chemical feedstocks for a wide variety of products.

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MIT researchers modify soil bacterium for biosynthesis of isobutanol using carbon

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Researchers at MIT have modified the soil bacterium Ralstonia eutropha to produce isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol (branched-chain higher alcohols). What it does is take whatever carbon is available, and stores it in the form of a polymer, which is similar in its properties to a lot of petroleum-based plastics. Earlier post.)

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Researchers from MIT and Sun Catalytix develop an artificial leaf for solar water splitting to produce hydrogen and oxygen

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Researchers led by MIT professor Daniel Nocera have produced an “artificial leaf”—a solar water-splitting cell producing hydrogen and oxygen that operates in near-neutral pH conditions, both with and without connecting wires. The cells were operated in a two-electrode cell configuration. (B) Reece et al. Click to enlarge.

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Harvard hybrid “bionic leaf” converts solar energy to liquid fuel isopropanol

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Scientists from a team spanning Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a scalable, integrated bioelectrochemical system that uses bacteria to convert solar energy into a liquid fuel. Credit: PNAS, Torella et al.

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MIT Researchers Identify New Low-Cost Water-Splitting Catalyst

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Nocera pictures small-scale systems in which rooftop solar panels would provide electricity, with any excess going to an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen, which would be stored in tanks. By doing so, he aims to imitate the process of photosynthesis, by which plants harvest sunlight and convert the energy into chemical form.

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U Chicago, MIT study suggests ongoing use of fossil fuels absent new carbon taxes

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A paper by a team from the University of Chicago and MIT suggests that technology-driven cost reductions in fossil fuels will lead to the continued use of fossil fuels—oil, gas, and coal—unless governments pass new taxes on carbon emissions. Their analysis is published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

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New nanolithia cathodes may address technical drawbacks of Li-air batteries; scalable, cheap and safer Li-air battery system

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An international team from MIT, Argonne National Laboratory and Peking University has demonstrated a lab-scale proof-of-concept of a new type of cathode for Li-air batteries that could overcome the current drawbacks to the technology, including a high potential gap (>1.2 V)

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