Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[tantal]

The major hurdle to making synthetic oil is cost. People typically talk about converting methane to heavier hydrocarbons (mixtures like gas and oil) but it is very expensive to do so. If we had efficient solar power sources this would be more feasible, but still have a limited supply of methane. The Germans made their own fossil fuels near the end of WWII as their oil supplies were cut off, but it was very expensive.

Ideally, we will come up with a way to recycle the CO2 produced upon combustion of hydrocarbons which uses renewable energy sources - giving us the energy needed to reduce the CO2 back to hydrocarbons as close to free as possible. At that point, we will be able to produce all we need, and control our atmospheric CO2 levels at will. However, we need to develop efficient solar energy conversion devices. In particular, these devices must produce more power over their usable lifetime than is required for their manufacture, if they are to be economically and ecologically feasible.

Unfortunately we are a long way away from that.