Researchers at Rice University’s Carbon Hub are
proposing the idea of actually using hydrocarbons to slash carbon dioxide
emissions.
In an opinion paper published
in the journal Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, carbon materials expert Matteo
Pasquali and Carl Mesters, retired chief scientist for chemistry and catalysis
at Shell, propose splitting hydrocarbon molecules into hydrogen and solid
carbon. The hydrogen could be used as a clean-burning fuel that produces no carbon dioxide, while the solid
carbon could become a cheap and plentiful source of high-performance materials
used by a wide range of industries.
“Each year, we pull more than 10 billion tons of
carbon from the ground in the form of oil, coal, and natural gas,” Pasquali
said. “That activity accounts for 7% of the global economy, and we need all
possible sources of hydrogen. We can keep producing those hydrocarbons as long
as we don’t burn them.”
According to the scientist, the technology already
exists to both split hydrocarbons and make solid carbon materials for broad
industry adoption. He has studied carbon nanotubes for almost two decades and
pioneered methods for spinning the nanomaterials into sewable, threadlike
fibers that conduct electricity as well as copper.
He argues that since the know-how is there, the issue
right now is the efficient scalability of the manufacturing processes so that
these new materials can compete with metals on price.
“If high-performance carbon materials were plentiful
enough to compete with metals in terms of price, market forces would take over
and we could eliminate metals that today require 12% of our annual global
energy budget to mine, process, and refine,” the expert said.
In his and Mester’s view, the transition to a world
where hydrocarbons are split rather than burned has the potential to generate
robust growth in manufacturing jobs, most of which will stay at the local level
where oil and gas are already established.
“We’re in a position similar to solar energy a few
decades ago: We know we can deliver performance, but manufacturing and scale
have to improve to drive costs down,” Pasquali said. “We must get there faster
than solar did.”