OpenTube

We Can Make Gasoline From Air. So Why Don’t We?

Isaac Arthur

30,264 views

Gasoline doesn’t have to come from oil. With carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere, hydrogen, and enough energy, we can manufacture synthetic fuels that work much like the gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel we already use... so why aren’t we doing it everywhere?

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Credits:
Making Gasoline from Air - The Science of Synthetic Fuel
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Editors: Jason Snyder & Yoel Mizrachi
Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images

Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:44 Why Hydrocarbons Matter
7:11 The Key Ingredients
10:14 The Sabatier Process: Making Methane
13:36 From Methane to Gasoline
16:23 Plastics, Chemicals, and Carbon Feedstocks
18:12 The Carbon-Neutral Accounting
20:12 The Thermodynamic Tax
21:53 Where the Power Comes From
24:40 Mining the Air at Civilization Scale
26:43 Beyond Earth: Any World Becomes a Fuel Depot
29:13 Space Industry
30:13 The Post-Scarcity Hydrocarbon

20 Comments

@timezone7937 18 hours ago

Looks like the Atmosphere needs some freedom

@taniapaquet7837 20 hours ago

NileRed has entered the chat.

@uisgeuisce 21 hours ago

I don't think I ever missed a single video from Isaac, at least watched once let alone couple of times.

You are a living legend mate!

@xguesswho222 19 hours ago

So I've been huffing gas this whole time? Explains alot😂

@WilliamSlayer 20 hours ago

It wasn't until I started watching this channel that I started looking at things like gasoline and oil as storage mediums for energy. I love how this channel makes me shift my paradigms!😊

@NonyaBidness-z1c 7 hours ago

I think the biggest problem is that people look at fuel as an inefficient energy source rather than as an efficient form of energy storage. It sounds like a distinction without a difference on the face of it, but considering hydrocarbon fuel as an energy storage material with a very high per unit energy density rather than something we burn to get power changed the way I view it and its place in our world. Can't remember who I got the idea from, some YouTube video I think, but it was several years ago.

@ericjome7284 20 hours ago

There's a lot to be said for perfecting a process you have lots of experience with over trying to re-invent a parallel process.

@cannonfodder4376 20 hours ago

Another fine and informative Arthursday video, Isaac.

@fencserx9423 8 hours ago

Dude I come back every few years and your speech is WILDLY better. As it turns out Speech therapy works wonders.

@JohnandTeagan 13 hours ago

The US Navy is working on this technology right now. Project Genesis & Sea Dragon Energy. The nuclear reactors on the aircraft carriers have excess capacity and the ability to supplement onboard fuel supplies is useful.

@nil981 13 hours ago

why we don't make gasoline from the air is really simple actually:

Too energy and capital intensive for too little gain. Especially when electric vehicles and battery technology is improving rapidly.

@Jameson1776 7 hours ago

There is a lot of carbon ready to be pumped out of the atmosphere.

@TheCatzilla1 16 hours ago

Thank you for making this video. I have been waiting for a vid on this amazing topic~~~

@DavidVincent-f5l 11 hours ago

What I learned from this video today is. We really need to build a exhaust recapture system for all our modes of transportation. Plus any involved motor will be redesigned similar to that of the steam type.

@christophe5756 6 hours ago

An excellent and excellently written episode! 👍👍

@odinata 6 hours ago (edited)

Nate Hagens - Ancient sunllight fossilized and stored, extracted from underground.
NileRed - Making complex chemicals out of easy ingredients

@EddyA1337 21 hours ago

Dayuuuum I was just thinking about how it was Thursday morning and some SFIA sounds good to fall asleep to and here it was.

@LiquidusEvilus 11 hours ago

Tree can make wood from air and water btw

@highways849 6 hours ago

Well done Sir

@EricLidiak 14 hours ago

A lot is resting on 'enough' energy. While that isn't a problem on say, the USS Lincoln, it makes producing gasoline on land much more expensive than making it from oil.