A U.S. oil refinery in Washington state. Photo: Wiki Commons.

The world’s dependence on crude oil could be dramatically reduced if what a group of Israeli scientists discovered can be applied to energy technology.

On Wednesday, a team from Ben Gurion University unveiled a “water-splitting” process by which a chemical element obtained from water can be mixed with a synthetic gas to create a substance that performs the same functions as oil, The Jewish Chronicle reported.

“There is no magic here… this is viable,” Moti Herskowitz, the chemical engineering professor who headed the research, said at the Bloomberg Fuel Choices Summit, in Tel Aviv.

The JC writes that Herskowitz’s process “involves mixing carbon dioxide with water and synthetic gas, and passing it through a special reactor to create a ‘green feed’ made up of liquid and gas.”

The ingredients for the fuel are readily available, he says. Hydrogen can be obtained from water and carbon dioxide can be “captured” from myriad places.

“This is a truly renewable fuel in terms of the environment,” said Dr Herskowitz, adding, “I believe that in five to ten years we’ll be able to be very competitive because of advances with water-splitting technologies.”