3 ms·

Very interesting, I wasn’t aware of that

• DANmode 10mo ago
  Despite spending a mind-numbing amount of time deeply embedded in the automotive world, I had no idea synthetic oil didn’t have oil or petroleum precursors. This is an incredible, and wildly under discussed win. As soon as solar energy is being used at scale, this will probably become way more commonly used - big electricity expense is the only main cost. Carbon capture is the other main input…hmmm.
  • devilbunny 10mo ago
    The problem is that solar only works when the sun is out and startup/shutdown on industrial chemical processes isn’t easy. Once you start involving batteries for around-the-clock operation, it’s more efficient just to use electricity directly. Synthetic hydrocarbons are best used for the cases like aviation where the energy density is the biggest hurdle.
    • DANmode 10mo ago
      Yes, these are the historical barriers. They’re melting.
  • petre 10mo ago
    DME is even easier to synthetize from syngas and afterwards methanol than synth oil.
• herewulf 10mo ago
  It's simply the reverse of oxidizing it (AKA combusting it).