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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[–] Ghostwurm@lemmy.ca 12 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Strategies like this allow you store excess energy at low demand periods (mid day) from sunlight for a time of day when there is peak demand (evening), but no sunlight. Effectively, it functions as a battery. The advantage of this technology is that it is immediately compatible with an ice vehicle or generator at the locality.

[–] B0rax@feddit.org 2 points 4 days ago

Well, it won’t be cheap. So you could also store it in batteries (for example the ones already in the car) with much better efficiency.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I'm assuming we can say this is carbon neutral, since the only carbon is being pulled out of the atmosphere in the first place, but it's still combustion, and carbon isn't the only concern there.