The more carbon dioxide (CO₂) we pump into the atmosphere, the hotter the planet will get. That’s why researchers around the world are looking for ways to transform those emissions into useful resources. One promising approach is to convert them into methane fuel, using a hydrogenation process called the Sabatier reaction.

In theory, it’s simple: just add hydrogen gas to CO₂ in the presence of a catalyst. However, there are technical challenges. Because the process generates a lot of heat,…