Carbon dioxide, the feedstock for using renewable energy

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 012002 - 14
• Main Authors: Hashimoto, K, Kumagai, N, Izumiya, K, Kato, Z
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.03.2011
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Chemical evolution; Chlorine; Coasts; Deserts; Electrolysis; Energy consumption; Formations; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; Methanation; Methane; Natural gas; Photovoltaic cells; Recycling; Renewable energy; Renewable resources; Sea water; Seawater; Solar cells; Uranium
• ISSN: 1757-899X; 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/19/1/012002

Extrapolation of world energy consumption between 1990 and 2007 to the future reveals the complete exhaustion of petroleum, natural gas, uranium and coal reserves on Earth in 2040, 2044, 2049 and 2054, respectively. We are proposing global carbon dioxide recycling to use renewable energy so that all people in the whole world can survive. The electricity will be generated by solar cell in deserts and used to produce hydrogen by seawater electrolysis at t nearby desert coasts. Hydrogen, for which no infrastructures of transportation and combustion exist, will be converted to methane at desert coasts by the reaction with carbon dioxide captured by energy consumers. Among systems in global carbon dioxide recycling, seawater electrolysis and carbon dioxide methanation have not been performed industrially. We created energy-saving cathodes for hydrogen production and anodes for oxygen evolution without chlorine formation in seawater electrolysis, and ideal catalysts for methane formation by the reaction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen. Prototype plant and industrial scale pilot plant have been built.