Current:Home > NewsResearchers Develop Cerium Reactor to Make Fuel from Sunlight -TradeWisdom
Researchers Develop Cerium Reactor to Make Fuel from Sunlight
View
Date:2025-04-16 17:45:39
A simple reactor that mimics plants by turning sunlight into fuel has been demonstrated in the laboratory, boosting hopes for a large-scale renewable source of liquid fuel.
“We have a big energy problem and we have to think big,” said Prof Sossina Haile, at the California Institute of Technology, who led the research.
Haile estimates that a rooftop reactor could produce about three gallons of fuel a day. She thinks transport fuels would be the first application of the reactor, if it goes on to commercial use. But she said an equally important use for the renewable fuels would be to store solar energy so it is available at times of peak demand, and overnight. She says the first improvements that will be made to the existing reactor will be to improve the insulation to help stop heat loss, a simple move that she expects to treble the current efficiency.
The key component is made from the metal cerium, which is almost as abundant as copper, unlike other rare and expensive metals frequently used as catalysts, such as platinum. Therefore, said Haile, availability would not limit the use of the device. “There is nothing cost prohibitive in our set-up,” she said. “And there is plenty of cerium for this technology to make a major contribution to global gasoline supplies.”
The fossil fuels used by vehicles, ships and aeroplanes pose the biggest challenge in the search for low-carbon energy, as they are highly energy-dense and portable, unlike alternatives such as batteries or nuclear reactors. An efficient, large-scale way of converting solar energy into a renewable liquid fuel could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change.
The device, reported in the journal Science, uses a standard parabolic mirror to focus the sun’s rays into a reaction chamber where the cerium oxide catalyst breaks down water and carbon dioxide. It does this because heating cerium oxide drives oxygen atoms out of its crystal lattice. When cooled the lattice strips oxygen from surrounding chemicals, including water and CO2 in the reactor. That produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can be converted to a liquid fuel.
In the experiments the reactor cycled up to 1,600C then down to 800C over 500 times, without damaging the catalyst. “The trick here is the cerium oxide – it’s very refractory, it’s a rock,” said Haile. “But it still has this incredible ability to release oxygen. It can lose one in eight of its oxygen molecules.” Caltech has filed patents on this use of cerium oxide.
The use of sunlight to make fuel is being explored by groups around the world, such as that lead by Daniel Nocera at Massachussetts Institute of Technology. His group’s technology works at room temperature but is more complex chemically. At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory last year researchers found cobalt oxide could help sunlight create fuels, but only as nano-sized crystals. Imperial College in London is also exploring different catalysts.
Other groups are exploring the use of CO2 from power station flues to create liquid fuels, while a related research effort is testing how algae grown in sunlight can be used to create fuels.
veryGood! (51873)
Related
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Horoscopes Today, September 6, 2023
- White supremacist signs posted outside Black-owned businesses on Martha's Vineyard
- Funko Pop Fall: Shop Marvel, Disney, Broadway, BTS & More Collectibles Now
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- UAW chief: Union to strike any Detroit automaker that hasn’t reached deal as contracts end next week
- CO2 pipeline project denied key permit in South Dakota; another seeks second chance in North Dakota
- Spanish women's soccer coach who called World Cup kissing scandal real nonsense gets fired
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Bachelor Nation's Nick Viall and Fiancée Natalie Joy Reveal Sex of Their First Baby
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- India’s prime minister uses the G20 summit to advertise his global reach and court voters at home
- Lidcoin: How much bitcoin does the federal government still hold?
- Oregon man who was sentenced to death is free 2 years after murder conviction was reversed
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- CO2 pipeline project denied key permit in South Dakota; another seeks second chance in North Dakota
- A cyclone has killed over 20 people in Brazil, with more flooding expected
- Week 1 fantasy football rankings: Chase for a championship begins
Recommendation
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
The AP Interview: Harris says Trump can’t be spared accountability for Jan. 6
Spanish women's soccer coach who called World Cup kissing scandal real nonsense gets fired
Carnival cruise passenger vanishes after ship docks in Florida
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
29-year-old solo climber who went missing in Rocky Mountains found dead
Phoenix on track to set another heat record, this time for most daily highs at or above 110 degrees
Another twist in the Alex Murdaugh double murder case. Did the clerk tamper with the jury?