Sugar synthesized from emissions

Scientists have recently announced the successful production of pure white sugar using methanol derived from industrial waste gases, a breakthrough that could reduce reliance on traditional sugar crops such as sugarcane and sugar beet.

The team, based at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed what they call a "molecular production line" to synthesize sucrose from carbon dioxide.

The process begins with "liquid sunlight" technology, previously pioneered by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, which uses solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into methanol. In the laboratory, this methanol is broken down into formaldehyde.