A new way to convert natural gas into liquid fuel could reduce the world's dependence on oil, according to a report published in the journal Science.
Scientists from Brigham Young University and The Scripps Research Institute say their new method involves the use of common metals such as thallium and lead to trigger the conversion of natural gas to liquid alcohol.
The research teams saw in experiments that by using these metals they could convert natural gas to alcohol at 180C - just a fraction of the far higher temperatures - between 1400C and 1600C - needed for traditional conversion methods.
The new method also works on natural gas in its raw state rather than separating it into its components - methane, ethane, and propane - as happens now, the Scripps Research Institute said in a news release on Thursday.
"This is a highly novel piece of work that opens the way to upgrading of natural gas to useful chemicals with simple materials and moderate conditions," said Robert Crabtree, a chemistry professor at Yale who is familiar with the new study.
"Hardly anybody actually tries to do reactions on a genuine mixture that you would get from natural gas," said Daniel Ess, a BYU chemistry professor and one of the study authors.
"Turns out we can just directly use the mixture of what comes out of natural gas and convert all three of them together.
"Whether you use methanol to burn as a fuel or as a chemical commodity for products, this process cuts down energy usage," Ess said.
