This will be a quick hit; I hope that someone with more tech knowledge and better writing skills will follow up with a more detailed post.
For the first time, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being produced on a large scale, which will enable the technology to be commercially available. About CNTs (emphasis added):
Mattershift, an NYC-based startup with alumni from MIT and Yale has achieved a breakthrough in making carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes at large scale. The startup is developing the technology's ability to combine and separate individual molecules to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from CO2 removed from the air...
For 20 years, researchers have shown that CNT membranes offer tremendous promise for a wide variety of uses including the low-cost production of ethanol fuel, precision drug delivery, low-energy desalination of seawater, purification of pharmaceutical compounds, and high-performance catalysis for the production of fuels. The difficulty and high cost of making CNT membranes has confined them to university laboratories and has been frequently cited as the limiting factor in their widespread use. Mattershift's ability to mass-produce CNT membranes unleashes the potential of this technology…
"This technology gives us a level of control over the material world that we've never had before," said Mattershift Founder and CEO, Dr. Rob McGinnis. "We can choose which molecules can pass through our membranes and what happens to them when they do. For example, right now we're working to remove CO2 from the air and turn it into fuels. This has already been done using conventional technology, but it's been too expensive to be practical. Using our tech, I think we'll be able to produce carbon-zero gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels that are cheaper than fossil fuels."
The bottom line is that we can manufacture petroleum-based fuels without having to extract fossil fuels from the ground. We “simply” grab the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the air and turn it into whatever carbon-based substance we need, and do it cheaper than extracting and refining fossil fuel. Since we won’t need Exxon, BP, Shell, and Chevron for much longer, some of Trump’s besties won’t be too pleased...
Updated to add that CNTs have more wide-ranging capabilities than making replacement fuels. I agree that making gasoline production carbon-neutral isn’t any type of holy grail, but CNTs can also make ethanol among many other things. Mattershift lists potential applications for their technologies here.
Saturday, Mar 10, 2018 · 9:40:54 PM +00:00 · 1BQ
Also updating to add that CNT technology is commercially available now. From the linked article:
The company has already booked its first sales and will ship products later this year for use in a seawater desalination process that uses the least amount of energy ever demonstrated at pilot scale.
In addition, I’m completely onboard with those who say that making carbon-based combustible fuels may be carbon-neutral but not carbon-negative. Replacing extractive technologies is not the longterm answer to our accelerating climate change. It’s more like a “quick fix” in that it provides the fuel that we’re already using in a carbon-neutral way that doesn’t require retrofitting our existing equipment (cars, furnaces, etc.). There are many more uses for CNTs that are potentially more beneficial to our planet than just this.