Carbon-based fuel cells are about to become a science fact. SRI, in November, announced that it has developed direct carbon fuel-cell technology. The SRI researchers have shown that they can take pulverized coal or anything else that contains carbon, including human waste or banana peels, in a single step. They also claim to be able to directly transform the fuel’s chemical energy into electricity by electrochemically oxidizing the carbon. The byproduct is carbon dioxide, true. But, an SRI researcher claim that it is emitted in a pure form and it’s easy to contain. “If you have a conventional gas-fired coal plant and capture the (carbon dioxide) — 75 percent of the cost is separating carbon dioxide from air,” he said.
Via: Wired News
