Until now, it has been a challenge to convert the stable molecule carbon dioxide into a useful product and remove it from the atmosphere. It is exciting to watch carbon dioxide be bubbled into the STEP process and be easily converted into solid carbon, (Stuart Licht, chemistry professor George Washington University)

In recent findings published in an article from the October 2010 issue of Photonics, researchers at George Washington University have found potentially dramatic and profitable means to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, possibly in as little as ten years. After twenty years of work, the team hopes to shine a "green light" on CO2 reduction. The discovery of an enhanced method of carbon capture known at STEP, or solar thermal electrochemical photo, harnesses sunshine power to extract CO2 pollution from the air. Archived documentation of this research can also be found online in the Journal of Physical Chemistry (August 18, 2009) and Chemical Communications (August 23, 2010).

It all sounds very alchemical and alluring. During the STEP process, photons of both visual and thermal energy from the sun are utilized to convert into a spectrum of carbon solids or CO2 gas. Carbon dioxide gas will develop at temperatures as high as 950 degrees Celsius, as the technicians lower the temperature (as low as 750 degrees Celsius) more of a solid carbon end product forms. Carbon--a building block of life, industry, as well as CO2, can now be gleaned from the air via a method that brings alchemy to mind.

Conceivably, the solid carbon end products could be used to manufacture many popular (albeit noxious) commodities, for example: diesel, kerosene and jet fuel, medicines and plastics. It seems important to also address the unhealthy habits such as consumerism and stressful lifestyles that require the continual manufacturing of said fuels, plastics and medicines. Reducing the global carbon footprint is only one of the interconnected ways we can heal the planet.