Depends on what the efficiency is, and how hard it is to manufacture the catalyst. The catalyst is made of carbon, copper, and nitrogen, so it there won't be a

Depends on what the efficiency is, and how hard it is to manufacture the catalyst. The catalyst is made of carbon, copper, and nitrogen, so it there won't be a problem of needing exotic materials. It would be even more impressive if you could run it in reverse, to generate electricity. The actual paper states the efficiency is 63%, so this combined with solar panels is more efficient than growing corn. Original press release: https://www.ornl.gov/news/nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-ethanol https://www.ornl.gov/news/nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbo... The paper itself: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/slct.201601169/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/slct.201601169/fu...