“Green Freedom” Keeps Us Trapped in Car Culture

Two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have a plan to help drivers stay on the road, and with plenty of fuel in their tanks. The project is dressed in a dubious green veil: scientists claim they can turn greenhouse gases back into gasoline, but not without causing further environmental damage. Keeping drivers behind the wheel would also perpetuate the status quo—and that ain’t pretty.

From the NYTimes:

The scientists, F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr., are proposing a concept, which they have patriotically named Green Freedom, for removing carbon dioxide from the air and turning it back into gasoline.

The idea is simple. Air would be blown over a liquid solution of potassium carbonate, which would absorb the carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide would then be extracted and subjected to chemical reactions that would turn it into fuel: methanol, gasoline or jet fuel.

This process could transform carbon dioxide from an unwanted, climate-changing pollutant into a vast resource for renewable fuels. The closed cycle — equal amounts of carbon dioxide emitted and removed — would mean that cars, trucks and airplanes using the synthetic fuels would no longer be contributing to global warming.

The idea isn’t new, but it’s never been done. Why? Because it requires an outstanding amount of energy. Although the vehicles, themselves, may no longer be polluting, the process required to transform greenhouse gases into gasoline would inevitably suck energy and produce its own emissions.

According to the NYT, humanity emits 30 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Gasoline, they say, produces 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon.

From the NYT:

… providing the energy to produce gasoline on a commercial scale — say, 750,000 gallons a day — would require a dedicated power plant, preferably a nuclear one, the scientists say.

According to their analysis, their concept, which would cost about $5 billion to build, could produce gasoline at an operating cost of $1.40 a gallon and would turn economically viable when the price at the pump hits $4.60 a gallon, taking into account construction costs and other expenses in getting the gas to the consumer. With some additional technological advances, the break-even price would drop to $3.40 a gallon, they said.

Operation Green Freedom will keep us tethered to our vehicles, and trapped in our car-oriented culture. The solution to climate change, I’m convinced, doesn’t involve relying on cars and gasoline. It’s time these scientists got out of their Hondas for long enough to think outside of the box—and away from the car. (“Green Freedom” also sounds eerily similar to yet another dicey entanglement the U.S. has gotten into.)

Apart from discussing Green Freedom, the NYT article also offers a discussion of other alterna-vehicles and –fuels that’s worth checking out.

Photo via flickr by iluvccoccacola & Walsh.

Related posts:

1. Cities Struggle to Turn Green, But Car Culture Puts the Brakes on Progress
2. The Persian Gulf Gets Slick with Car-Free, Green City
3. Green is the New Black for New York Limos
4. The Green Car is a Myth
5. Oil Companies Get Green, Move “Beyond Petroleum?”