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The Precourt Institute for Energy is now part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

CO2 Conversion & Use

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One way to offset today’s high costs of carbon capture is to convert captured greenhouse gases – particularly CO2 and methane – into valuable chemicals, including carbon-neutral fuels, rather than sequester them. CO2 can be converted into ethanol or methanol, which can then be upgraded to gasoline and jet fuel. The combust-capture-convert cycle could be carbon-neutral or at least have very low carbon emissions. Other valuable products that could be made from captured CO2 include acetic acid, urea, plastics, construction materials, and biofuel from algae. Stanford researchers are working across this field of CO2 conversion.