New catalyst "makes carbon neutral fuel from CO2 a viable option"

The research, carried out at the University of Adelaide in collaboration with CSIRO, Australia's national agency for scientific research, could validate a process that has the potential to replace fossil fuels and continue to use existing carbon-based fuel technologies without increasing atmospheric CO₂.

The catalyst drives the process of combining CO₂ with hydrogen to produce methane and water.

"Capturing carbon from the air and utilising it for industrial processes is one strategy for controlling CO₂ emissions and reducing the need for fossil fuels," said University of Adelaide PhD candidate Renata Lippi, first author of the research published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

"But for this to be economically viable, we need an energy efficient process that utilises CO₂ as a carbon source. Research has shown that the hydrogen can be produced efficiently with solar energy. But combining the hydrogen with CO₂ to produce methane is a safer option than using hydrogen directly as an energy source and allows the use of existing natural gas infrastructure.