Carbon dioxide can be turned into bio-fuels

Scientists in Singapore claim to have found a way to turn the planet warming carbon dioxide into clean burning methanol using a process that uses less energy than previous attempts. The scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and nanotechnology say that they used non toxic organic catalysts to convert the carbon dioxide into ethanol. The process uses hydrosilane, a combination of silica and gel. The hydrosilane provides hydrogen which bonds with carbon dioxide in a reduction reaction. The carbon dioxide reduction is efficiently catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes even at room temperatures. Methanol can be obtained from the product of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction.