Making commodity chemicals requires fossil fuels. New devices could do it with renewables

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https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/making-commodity-chemicals-requires-fossil-fuels-new-devices-could-do-it-renewables#

Source:  By Robert F. Service, Science Magazine.

Excerpt: As windmills and solar panels multiply, the supply of renewable electricity sometimes exceeds demand. Chemists would like to put the excess to work making commodity chemicals, such as the raw materials for fertilizer and plastics, which are now produced with heat, pressure, and copious fossil fuels. The electrochemical cells that can harness renewable electricity to make these compounds have been too slow to be practical. Now, two groups report redesigning the cells to achieve a dramatic speedup—perhaps enough to put green industrial chemistry within reach....

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