Iceland already uses the geothermal energy it sits on top of to heat the whole country, but it could now be set to run its cars on volcano power.
FastCoExist is the company behind the radical idea to make cars run on volcano power.
Volcanoes make the huge amount of energy within the Earth’s core accessible from its surface. A power company in Iceland already uses this to its advantage by producing electricity; however, the process results in large amounts of fairly concentrated carbon dioxide being emitted.
Recycling firm Carbon Recycling International turns that CO2 into methanol which, in turn, could be used to power cars without having the carcinogenic byproducts of gasoline.
FastCoExist said the company’s process could be used to recycle carbon dioxide anywhere. It noted, however, that in places such as coal-fired power plants emissions contain various chemicals that are costly to separate.
The company went on to explain that CO2 emissions from geothermal plants are more concentrated, making them less difficult to capture and use. It added that a geothermal plant offers cheap, renewable electricity to allow the methanol to be converted.