But the team at Cambridge think their new invention could help put an end to all that.

Sayan and Erwin explained that “carbon dioxide can also be useful if we convert it into a fuel instead.”

Erwin said: “Instead of continuing to dig up and burn fossil fuels to produce the products we have come to rely on, we can get all the CO2 we need directly from the air and reuse it.”

They say another benefit of the flow reactor is that it captures carbon dioxide in the air to make fuel, making it even more effective to help combat global warming.

The team are now building a bigger version of the device which they hope to start testing in the spring.