We may soon be able to make gasoline from thin air

Can synthetic gas wean us off fossil fuels?

A gas pump.
(Image credit: msymons/iStock)

In the not so distant future, when you fill up your car, you may be pumping gasoline made from air instead of fossil fuels. The technology to make this happen already exists.

In the U.S., transportation accounts for nearly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions. While driving generates a number of harmful pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide, the most dangerous with regards to climate change is carbon dioxide: Burning through one gallon of fossil fuel-derived gasoline spits 19.6 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where it acts as a heat-trapping gas and contributes to a warming planet.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Lana Bandoim

Lana Bandoim is a freelance writer and editor. Her work has appeared on Yahoo! News, CNN iReport, The Huffington Post, Lifescript, Healthline, and many other publications.