this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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New York Startup Builds Fridge-Sized Machine That Can Turn Air Into Gasoline (www.jalopnik.com)
submitted 5 days ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/science@beehaw.org
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The main reason why this process isn't "something for nothing" is that it takes twice as much electrical energy to produce energy in the form of gasoline. As Aircela told The Autopian:

Aircela is targeting >50% end to end power efficiency. Since there is about 37kWh of energy in a gallon of gasoline we will require about 75kWh to make it. When we power our machines with standalone, off-grid, photovoltaic panels this will correspond to less than $1.50/gallon in energy cost.

Doesn't it sort of defeat the purpose of gasoline being used because it's so energy dense? Like, this seems to suggest little more than the benefits of electrification in transport.

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[–] thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz 17 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Doesn’t it sort of defeat the purpose of gasoline being used because it’s so energy dense? Like, this seems to suggest little more than the benefits of electrification in transport.

It allows you to extend the use of gasoline vehicles into an electric future. Fueling gasoline vehicles for $1.50 a gallon is also a wonderful eff you to the oil companies (I'm sure it won't be allowed to scale).

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Maybe for industrial purposes, this makes sense, but losing half the energy to convert electricity to gas? You have a power line. You can charge an EV or lose 50% of your energy to produce a gallon of gas a day. I'm not really seeing parity here.

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

off-grid photovoltaic panels

Solar to gas, not grid to gas. Gasoline is easier to store and transport than batteries. There are places that batteries don't make sense but still have lots of sun. I think this could be useful, and if it's using CO2 from the atmosphere and solar power then it's not contributing to global warming.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sure, but if you've got 20 grand to spend on this contraption and already have solar, why not get a shitton of 48V server batteries?

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 2 points 4 days ago

Battery performance quickly degrades in cold conditions. In the Arctic circle, you could have lots of sun during the summer but it still wouldn't make sense to deploy batteries. The people who live there are already dependent on gasoline.