Patent ID: 7704369

Claim:
An environmentally beneficial method of producing methanol by recycling and reductive conversion of any available source of carbon dioxide, which comprises: providing a divided electrochemical cell comprising an anode in a first cell compartment and a metal cathode electrode in a second cell compartment that also contains an aqueous solution or aqueous methanolic solution of an electrolyte of one or more alkyl ammonium halides, alkali carbonates or combinations thereof; recycling carbon dioxide from an existing source into the second cell compartment; electrochemically reducing the recycled carbon dioxide and solution in the second cell compartment to produce therein a reaction mixture containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas; and obtaining the carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas of the reaction mixture from the second cell compartment and directly reacting the reaction mixture in the presence of a catalyst to produce methanol while also producing oxygen in the first cell compartment at the anode to benefit the environment by reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.