Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Green Freedom™ - A New Concept

Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) came out with a new concept, called Green Freedom™. The project proposes the production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and organic chemicals from air and water. Green Freedom™ is using the carbon-neutral to remove carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere, split the water into the hydrogen and oxygen, and then convert the hydrogen and the carbon-dioxide into synthetic fuels and organic chemicals. Their objective is to create a fuel that will work with existing vehicle and aircraft infrastructure.

"Among Green Freedom™ compelling advantages, it:

  • Uses benign materials that are abundant supply as its chemical feeds;
  • Produces carbon-neutral, sulfur-free liquid fuels and organic chemicals;
  • Permits continued use of the existing industrial and transportation infrastructure;
  • Enhances US energy and material security by reducing dependence on imported oil;
  • Reduces the need for intrusive exploration and extraction of natural gas, oil, coal, etc.;
  • Limits the environmental impact of the production facility and power assist waste stream;
  • Limits pressure on agricultural capacity;
  • Has the potential to stabilize energy prizes."

The major worries associated with this new project are the capital and operating costs; these worries cannot be reduced until performance data is generated for the capturing and recovering of carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere and more detailed designs and analysis are developed. If this concept is feasible, it remains to be seen. However, it is exciting to add another technology to the growing list of alternative energy sources.

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