No, more oxygen is required to sustain the process of combustion. Just like extracting energy from wind, it's only limitless because the environment is massive.

No, more oxygen is required to sustain the process of combustion. Just like extracting energy from wind, it's only limitless because the environment is massive. In a closed system, this reaction would taper out quickly, it relies on endless amounts of fuel from the atmosphere. A perpetual motion system produces energy from a closed system. Real world systems can tap into ambient energy, even if it's stored chemically. The only thing novel about using this process to produce fuel is the lack of lengthy intermediate steps between fuel and extracting energy from chemical reactions. It looks like it's not pure carbon that is produced but a variation of graphene oxide, though, which can't be a easily burned to maintain the reaction. It can be reduced, and then burned, though, so there's still potential for a co2 power cycle.