Scientists have developed a way to turn carbon dioxide from coal power plants into useful alcohols like ethanol and n-propanol. They created a special system that uses electricity to convert the carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which is then turned into alcohols. This process is efficient and selective, meaning it produces a lot of alcohols with little waste. They also looked at how other pollutants in the power plant's flue gas might affect this technology. Overall, this method could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal power plants and is economically feasible.