"Richard" wrote in message
m...


The fuel is created with the help of an electrolytic cation exchange
module, a machine which removes carbon dioxide from seawater while
simultaneously producing hydrogen. The gases are then formed into
liquid hydrocarbons by a metal catalyst in a reactor system, the lab
said in a statement.


Oh, it isn't progress in synthetic photosynthesis, instead they are
updating the old Fischer-Tropsch process:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer...ropsch_process
"Being petroleum-poor but coal-rich, Germany used the Fischer–Tropsch
process during World War II to produce ersatz (replacement) fuels.
Fischer–Tropsch production accounted for an estimated 9% of German war
production of fuels and 25% of the automobile fuel."

It does NOT create energy from water, but it turns hydrogen from water
and carbon monoxide from dioxide into hydrocarbons with the addition
of external energy. Basically it converts a less versatile source of
energy like coal into liquid fuel.

In the 1800's 'water gas' for streetlights was made from water and
coal by a cruder version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_gas
"The reaction is endothermic so the fuel must be continually re-heated
to keep the reaction going."

-jsw