Researchers have discovered how to create clean, sustainable fuels using only carbon dioxide captured from the air and energy from the Sun. A team from the University of Cambridge used a solar-powered reactor to transform CO2 from real-world sources into an inexhaustible energy supply. The research took inspiration from carbon capture and storage (CCS), which until now has captured CO2 in order to pump it into underground storage. “Instead of storing CO2 underground, like in CCS, we can capture it from the air and make clean fuel from it,” said Dr Motiar Rahaman. “This way, we can cut out the fossil fuel industry from the process of fuel production, which can hopefully help us avoid climate destruction.” The solar-driven technology is able to actively capture CO2 from either industrial processes, or directly from the air. “This solar-powered system takes two harmful waste products – plastic and carbon emissions – and converts them into something truly useful,” said co-first author Dr Sayan Kar. “The fact that we can effectively take CO2 from air and make something useful from it is special. It’s satisfying to see that we can actually do it using only sunlight.” The research was detailed in a study, titled ‘Integrated Capture and Solar-driven Utilisation of CO2 from Flue Gas and Air’, published in the scientific journal Joule on Monday. Read More ‘Miracle material’ solar panels to finally enter production in China