r/science • u/Wagamaga • Aug 06 '20

Chemistry Turning carbon dioxide into liquid fuel. Scientists have discovered a new electrocatalyst that converts carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into ethanol with very high energy efficiency, high selectivity for the desired final product and low cost.

https://www.anl.gov/article/turning-carbon-dioxide-into-liquid-fuel
59.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/audion00ba Aug 06 '20

I would enjoy being part of a team to write a computer program for a super computer that would design the details of such a device, but I guess they wouldn't be able to look past my lack of a degree in chemistry (and ironically, if I had a degree in chemistry, I would probably have to do something boring like applying some retarded scientist's ideas to some industrial process to improve metric X by 2%).

Perhaps the fastest super computer in the world would still be too slow to compute it, but at least it would be fun to try. I also think computer programs that might have significant value could be so important that custom computers could be designed for the sole purpose of computing a solution (kind of like the code breakers do and have done).

1

u/matthiass360 Aug 06 '20

I have a degree in chemical engineering, so thanks for that...

I understand your concerns though. You could opt for studying mathematics with chemistry as a minor, if that's possible. Follow your ambition and try to apply yourself for internships or something similar with centres that work with super computers. Maybe you'll be able to get there.

1

u/audion00ba Aug 06 '20

I have a degree in chemical engineering, so thanks for that...

For your comfort, I also pay bills by doing less glorious things.

These kinds of developments only happen when governments fund it. If the government really wanted to do it, they would have called already. Probably they are fine with making money from dumping more CO2 in the atmosphere for now.

I think nuclear fusion is the way to go, though. Specifically, hydrogen boron fusion. If it doesn't work, it only costs USD 100M, but if it does, humanity is "done". Who cares about "optimizing a chemical process" when energy is basically free?