Powering the ships of the future? Navy develops technologyto turn seawater into fuel

Flying a radio-controlled replica of the historic WWII P-51 Mustang red-tail aircraft--of the legendaryTuskegee Airmen--NRL researchers (left to right) Dr. Jeffrey Baldwin, Dr. Dennis Hardy, Dr. HeatherWillauer, and Dr. David Drab, successfully demonstrate a novel liquid hydrocarbon fuel to power theaircraft's unmodified two-stroke internal combustion engine.U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Navy researchers say they have developed a "game changing technology" for creating fuel fromseawater - a process that could keep ships out at sea longer.

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Materials Science and Technology Division announcedMonday that it had already flown a radio-controlled replica of a World War II plane usinghydrocarbon fuel made from seawater.

The fuel is created with the help of an electrolytic cation exchange module, a machine which

removes carbon dioxide from seawater while simultaneously producing hydrogen. The gases arethen formed into liquid hydrocarbons by a metal catalyst in a reactor system, the lab said in astatement.

"In close collaboration with the Office of Naval Research P38 Naval Reserve program, NRL hasdeveloped a game changing technology for extracting, simultaneously, CO2 and H2 from seawater,"said Dr. Heather Willauer, an NRL research chemist. "This is the first time technology of this naturehas been demonstrated with the potential for transition, from the laboratory, to full-scalecommercial implementation."

Fuel produced this way would cost an estimated $3-6 per gallon, the NRL says, and could becommercially viable within the next seven to ten years with proper funding and partnerships.

"Pursuing remote land-based options would be the first step towards a future sea-based solution,"the NRL said in a statement.

The laboratory, which is based in Washington, D.C., focuses on overcoming technological challengesthat the Navy faces.