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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[โ€“] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You're not generally going to have a problem with CO~2~ removal locally. We're making enough of it that the trees won't die.

Water vapour, on the other hand ... that could be an environmental stressor depending on siting. Still, unless installing at scale, output of a gallon a day doesn't seem like it's going to do much to the local environment.

[โ€“] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 1 points 4 days ago

Yeah, I was figuring similarly, but still. I've seen enough "harmless" "local" environmental changes spiral to know that at least some thought is warranted about it. I absolutely did not mean to suggest it would be harmful, just that I don't know enough about it and would hope that somebody knowledgeable looks into it before they recommend scaling.