Copper catalyst makes ethanol without crops

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

Scientists have found a highly efficient way to make liquid ethanol from carbon monoxide gas. The discovery could provide an eco-friendly alternative to conventional ethanol production that uses corn and other crops.

“We have discovered the first metal catalyst that can produce appreciable amounts of ethanol from carbon monoxide at room temperature and pressure —a notoriously difficult electrochemical reaction,” says Matthew Kanan, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford University and coauthor of the study that appears in Nature.

Most ethanol today is produced at high-temperature fermentation facilities that chemically convert corn, sugarcane, and other plants into liquid fuel. But growing crops for biofuel requires thousands of acres of land and vast quantities of fertilizer and water.

In some parts of the United States, it takes more than 800 gallons of water to grow a bushel of corn, which, in turn, yields about 3 gallons of ethanol.

The new technique developed by Kanan and graduate student Christina Li requires no fermentation and, if scaled up, could help address many of the land- and water-use issues surrounding ethanol production today. “Our study demonstrates the feasibility of making ethanol by electrocatalysis,” Kanan says. “But we have a lot more work to do to make a device that is practical.”

More here.

An awesome discovery, though with the powers-that-be I doubt we'll ever see implemented in some form or another outside of controlled experiments that'll only ever be just that.