The Fixing of Carbon Dioxide

One of the greatest dangers from our threatened world is the mounting carbon dioxide and methane concentration. 

During the next half-century, the atmospheric concentration of these is likely to rise to 400 ppm and even 600 ppm if we continue to bum fossil fuels. Such concentrations will lead to methane from the tundra and the temperature rise from that may well make the surface of this earth uninhabitable. 

one way to deal with this undeniable world threat is to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide by converting it to the simplest (liquid) hydrogen carrier, methanol. It is not fanciful to consider fixing most of the carbon dioxide output in our present economy by turning it into easily handled methanol, providing our cars then with the methanol or derived hydrogen to drive their fuel cells. 

Regarding suitable cathodes for the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol, indium, and tin have good prospects because each has a high overpotential for hydrogen evolution, the chief competitor in aqueous solution for carbon dioxide reduction to methanol  

However, Hori (1986) found the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methane on a molybdenum cathode to be electrocatalytic [11]. One hundred percent reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol at 0°C was reported. What remains open to research is the use of nonaqueous solvents, for example, acetonitrile, because there would be then no competition from hydrogen evolution. Carbon dioxide does undergo electrochemical reduction in acetonitrite to glycolic acid. Here is a research topic, which could have world consequences and cost very little (about 105 per year per researcher, even a dozen would make a great difference in five years). 

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