r/science • u/Wagamaga • Feb 13 '25

Chemistry Researchers have developed a reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel, using sunlight as the power source

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/solar-powered-device-captures-carbon-dioxide-from-air-to-make-sustainable-fuel
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u/SyrioForel Feb 13 '25

For technological innovations that are realistically impossible to scale quickly enough to avoid or delay planetary catastrophe, it’s important to point this out so that people get out of this wrongheaded mindset that we can stay on course because some magic technology will come and save us.

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u/Recent_Night_3482 Feb 13 '25

Artificial intelligence is pivotal in accelerating the development of new technologies. Relying solely on non-technological solutions to address humanity’s challenges is likely ineffective.

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u/SyrioForel Feb 13 '25

AL hallucinations and AI slop are not going to save you.

The issue is not a lack of technology, it’s the fact that industries will continue destroying the planet as long as governments continue to allow it.

This is not a question of scientific innovation, it’s a question of social policy. We are well past the point where any technology can realistically prevent or reverse the destruction of this planet. Time has already run out. We are about a century too late to try to stop this through technology.

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u/Recent_Night_3482 Feb 13 '25

You make it sound like AI hallucinations and slop are all we’ll ever get, but we’re in the infant stages of AI. Just like every technology before it, it will evolve and become more effective. At the end of the day, saving the environment will be the most profitable path forward. Whether it’s reversing damage or just keeping us alive in whatever world we create, technology will be the only way through. If we really are past the tipping point, then adaptation is all that’s left. Get ready for your great-great-grandkids to grow up in biodomes.

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u/gearnut Feb 13 '25

AI is currently nowhere close to justifying its power usage which unfortunately is only going to grow. The nuclear industry is happily jumping into bed with data center clients due to ready availability of funds, but each plant built to power data centers is going to encourage more power usage for AI and won't be available to help decarbonise existing power supply needs.

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u/Duckel Feb 13 '25

In 20 years AI won't have any innovation on its wiki page.

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u/James_Vaga_Bond Feb 14 '25

As our technology has advanced, our impact on the environment has increased. Even advances in energy efficiency have been offset by increased consumption. The problem in the first place is the overuse of technology, not a deficiency of it.