In the UK, World Bio Market Insights reported that a group of researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products.
In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry, according to the report.
Although improvements are needed before this technology can be used at an industrial scale, the results of the tests represent another important step toward the production of clean fuels, the report adds.
“We’re not just interested in decarbonization, but defossilization — we need to completely eliminate fossil fuels in order to create a truly circular economy,” said Professor Erwin Reisner. “In the medium term, this technology could help reduce carbon emissions by capturing them from industry and turning them into something useful, but ultimately, we need to cut fossil fuels out of the equation entirely and capture CO2 from the air,” he said.
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