MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

Interesting:

In the new study, the team focused on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethylene, a widely used chemical that can be made into a variety of plastics as well as fuels, and which today is made from petroleum. But the approach they developed could also be applied to producing other high-value chemical products as well, including methane, methanol, carbon monoxide, and others, the researchers say.

Glad they're finally making ice cream sandwiches out of it.

Could do with more caramel drizzle, though.

I was wondering about total cost in energy. In the sense that wind and solar basically convert a barrel of oil into X times a barrel of oil of energy. They are looking to make it economically feasible which should likely mean its ends up being efficient enough:

"Currently, ethylene sells for about $1,000 per ton, so the goal is to be able to meet or beat that price. The electrochemical process that converts CO2 into ethylene involves a water-based solution and a catalyst material, which come into contact along with an electric current in a device called a gas diffusion electrode."

People really gotta stop taking MIT articles as meaningful.