article thumbnail

New photocatalytic system converts carbon dioxide to valuable fuel more efficiently than natural photosynthesis

Green Car Congress

The new system mimics a natural chloroplast to convert carbon dioxide in water into methane, very efficiently using light. Photosynthesis is the process by which chloroplasts in plants and some organisms use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create food or energy.

Convert 369
article thumbnail

Twelve and LanzaTech successfully convert CO2 to ethanol

Green Car Congress

This work will see Twelve converting CO 2 to CO, which will in turn be converted by LanzaTech’s proprietary microbe to isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Polypropylene is a major polymer used in key applications, including medical devices like syringes and IV bags, automotive, furniture, textiles, and other durable products.

Convert 324
article thumbnail

Directly-cooled lighter-weight EV motor made with polymer housing

Green Car Congress

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT are working together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT to develop a new cooling concept that will enable polymers to be used as EV electric motor housing materials, thereby reducing the weight of the motor and thus, the EV itself.

Polymer 322
article thumbnail

Study finds the wettability of porous electrode surfaces is key to making efficient water-splitting or carbon-capturing systems

Green Car Congress

As water-splitting technologies improve, often using porous electrode materials to provide greater surface areas for electrochemical reactions, their efficiency is often limited by the formation of bubbles that can block or clog the reactive surfaces. As a result, there were substantial changes of the transport overpotential. 2021.02.015.

Water 418
article thumbnail

BMW i Ventures invests in Natural Fiber Welding; plant-based leathers, yarns and foams

Green Car Congress

MIRUM is made with natural, biodegradable polymers. Synthetic polyurethane-based leathers require around 5 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per kg of synthetic polymer produced. MIRUM requires no tanning and is made from natural polymers and materials (e.g., waste’ cork powder).

BMW 435
article thumbnail

Researchers split water by altering photosynthetic machinery in plants; semi-artificial photosynthesis

Green Car Congress

They used natural sunlight to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen using a mixture of biological components and manmade technologies. A new paper, published in Nature Energy , outlines how the researchers at the Reisner Laboratory in Cambridge developed their platform to achieve unassisted solar-driven water-splitting.

Water 210
article thumbnail

New system for more efficient CO2 electrolysis to hydrocarbon products

Green Car Congress

A team of researchers from Canada and the US has developed a system that quickly and efficiently converts carbon dioxide into simple chemicals via CO 2 electrolysis. The key to the new device is a polymer coating that facilitates the transport of CO 2 through the surface of the metal or electrode of the catalyst. Resources.

CO2 414