Is it possible? Could we actually make a carbon neutral fuel from carbon? For the past decade or so, scientists have been working on technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and store the gas underground in order to avoid climate change. But what if we took that captured carbon dioxide and turned it back into a fuel?

Assuming solar energy was used for the conversion, we would have a green energy source with no carbon footprint. And not only would we be reducing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but we would also be reducing our dependence on oil. This is precisely what chemistry professor Andrew Bocarsly has been working on since 2003.

Building on 1990s research from then-Princeton graduate student Lin Chao, Bocarsly and Emily Barton GS have discovered a way to convert carbon dioxide into fuel using solar energy.

“We take CO2, water, sunlight and an appropriate catalyst and generate an alcoholic fuel,” Bocarsly explained to Scientific American.

And voila — an easily transportable alternative fuel that does not require a whole new infrastructure.

If it sounds too good to be true, there is one catch: we don’t yet have the technology to produce such a fuel in massive quantities at a low price. But Liquid Light is a startup dedicated to creating that technology. Perhaps by the time you graduate you’ll be pumping your car full of recycled gasoline.

Watch how it works after the jump.