Stopping climate change: a Hungarian scientist has transformed CO2 into useful substance
The Hungarian chemist-economist, Zoltán Köntös, has invented the method of transforming the Globe-choking CO2 into useful substance in large quantity. In other words: curbing climate change in a financially profittable way. It has already caught the attention of the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and the ministerial commissioner for space exploration has immediately received Dr. Köntös. The Budapest web journal, Válasz Online, has published an exclusive interview with the inventor.
“When I founded the research company IOI Investment in 2016, the one thing I was sure about was the will of producing a larger quantity of fulvic acid. From coal, moreover, as Hungary possesses a lot of it. I was to produce the sufficient quantity of being able to examine its derivatives”, Zoltán Köntös told Válasz Online.
He believes this substance is to play an important role as its special form can bind iodine – therefore it can solve iodine deficiency, one of the planet’s biggest deficiency diseases –, gold, silver and plenty of other metals.
The essence of Mr. Köntös’ present invention is that, under the influence of sunlight, in the presence of a suitable selected metal containing fulvic acid complex catalyst, the inorganic carbon from the carbon-dioxide can be transformed into organic carbon containing formic acid. The capture and storage of CO2 is not a long term solution, the bright pathway seems to be the chemical transformation of CO2 into useful materials such as formic acid”, he suggests. In order of magnitude a metric ton of CO2 costs probably 50 EUR, a metric ton of fromic acid can be sell 1000 EUR, shows the outlined pathway may economically viable.
And what is to be done with the large quantity of formic acid? One of the fields of applicaton is E-traffic. Hydrogen has a good energy density, it is advised to be stored in fluids to move it easily. As formic acid can store chemically 53 grams of hydrogen in every litre, Dr. Köntös believes that, using the infrastructure of today’s petrol stations, one could drive hydrogen vehicle by fueling formic acid. “Apart from vanishing CO2 before it gets into the atmosphere, we could produce useful material out of it”, the chemist-economist says.
Dr. Köntös believes the invention could be utilized in space exploration too: “The one thing we are certain about planet Mars is that it possesses three materials: CO2, water and light. The only thing there is a lack of is a catalyzer – which can be delivered there.”
