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  • Scientists have just invented a way to pull something as valuable as diamonds out of thin

  • air, and doing so MIGHT help solve the global warming problem.

  • Hi everyone, I’m Ian O’Neill, space producer for Discovery News, and I’m here to chat

  • today not about black holes, asteroids or spaceships, but instead, I’m going to focus

  • on something a little more down to Earth that could have a global impact.

  • And that something is carbon nanofibers. Or more precisely, the PRODUCTION of carbon nanofibers.

  • This material is commonly used in high-end electronics and could be used to greatly improve

  • carbon composite materials that are used in applications where strong, lightweight material

  • is a necessity, such as aircraft or spacecraft.

  • Normally, the fabrication of this material is rather expensive, preventing it from being

  • used in more applications -- often cheaper materials, such as certain plastics, will

  • suffice.

  • But now, scientists from George Washington University, have invented a solar powered,

  • low energy system that can convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into valuable carbon nanofibers.

  • Yes, I said carbon dioxidefrom the atmosphere… I think you know where I’m going here.

  • According to BBC News, in laboratory tests, scientists put together a bath of molten salts

  • and dropped some electrodes into the bath. Then they passed an electrical current through

  • the salt and let it do its thing.

  • Through a chemical reaction, a black, sooty residue began to form around the electrodes

  • -- and that black stuff was carbon nanofibers.

  • And it’s quite impressive -- the system converts carbon dioxide into this carbon residue

  • at a rate of 10 grams per hour. And this is just a laboratory test! Can you imagine what

  • it could do once the system is optimized and, potentially, scaled up for industrial use?

  • This is what its inventors are thinking: Scale it up and tap into a limitless supply of carbon

  • dioxide. But perhaps one of their more lofty goals is to possibly help slow the global

  • warming trend by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

  • Carbon dioxide, as we all know, is a potent greenhouse gas and our burning of fossil fuels

  • is showing few signs of abating, sadly.

  • According to the EPA, in 2013, the US alone generated over 5 billion metric tons of carbon

  • dioxide -- from power plants, industry, land use and vehicles. So, not including the CO2

  • that’s already in the atmosphere, there’s certainly a huge reservoir of the stuff that

  • could be used as a resource for industrial-scale carbon nanofiber factories.

  • But other scientists aren’t convinced that these factories can be scaled up to pull enough

  • carbon dioxide out of the air to make a difference on the global warming impacts of the greenhouse

  • gas.

  • But the way I see it, at least it’s a start. Also, as the technology will be producing

  • a limitless supply of carbon nanofibers, it could transform industrial applications for

  • the material, driving down the price, and potentially revolutionizing certain products

  • and technologies.

Scientists have just invented a way to pull something as valuable as diamonds out of thin

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