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“In the future, we could have a single system that To explain: The air that we breathe contains
simultaneously stores energy and desalinates carbon dioxide. In fact, as already mentioned
water,” he predicts. “This would be applicable in here, this is precisely the reason why global
areas not covered by the electricity grid, such as warming is occurring. Each carbon dioxide
villages in Africa. At the moment, it’s not entirely molecule contains one atom of carbon that can,
clear where these systems will fit exactly, but they theoretically, bond with other carbon atoms and
have the potential to really change things.” with hydrogen atoms to produce fuel materials,
It is hard to remain unimpressed by the future
envisioned by Rotschild, Suss, and other energy such as methanol and butanol. According to ARPA- Prof. Matthew
storage researchers, a future enabling solar and E’s vision, humanity could actually produce fuel Suss
wind energies to be harvested continuously and from the air, while also halting global warming, by
efficiently, stored at zero cost, and supplied absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
according to consumer demand. This is the world “Today, the process is still expensive,” says
where the words of Lewis L. Strauss, president of Leonid Tartakovsky, head of the Internal
the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, may come Combustion Engines Laboratory at the Technion’s
true: “Our children will enjoy in their homes Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. “But if
electrical energy too cheap to meter… (and) will fossil fuel becomes too costly, in terms of its
travel effortlessly over the seas and under them environmental impact, electrofuel will become
and through the air with a minimum of danger and financially viable. Large car manufacturers, such
at great speeds.” as Ford, are now investing a lot of money in
Strauss made these predictions in 1954, and researching these technologies. Electrofuel plants
although some have proven true—people are already operating in Germany, Iceland, and
in industrialized countries can travel easily, other countries.”
efficiently, and safely over the sea and through
the air—we still await the age of free energy. But it The Holy Hybridity
looks like this age is gradually approaching.
While Tartakovsky is not studying electrofuel
Out of Thin Air production processes, he has a strong interest in

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency) has been working for over sixty years
in the U.S., supporting groundbreaking studies
that have led to the invention of the Internet, the
first computer mouse, sophisticated robots, and
numerous other inventions. DARPA’s greatness
lies in its team’s willingness to think outside the
box, to take on tremendous challenges, and to
find unusual solutions for them.
In 2009, the Obama administration’s Secretary of
Energy, Steven Chu, decided to emulate DARPA’s
success—in the energy field. He founded the
ARPA-E program, which has directed substantial
research resources into innovative directions. One
of these was intended to discover a new source of
fuel—in the air itself.

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering | MEgazine | 15