The researchers have developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, while plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry.
The team took CO2 from real-world sources – such as industrial exhausts or carbon captured from the air itself – and concentrated it to transform it into sustainable fuel.
Although improvements are needed before the technology can be used at an industrial scale, the researchers said the project demonstrates the possibility of producing clean fuels without the need for environmentally destructive oil and gas extraction.
“We’re not just interested in decarbonisation, but de-fossilisation: we need to completely eliminate fossil fuels in order to create a truly circular economy,” said lead researcher Professor...