Researchers develop reactor to make fuel from sunlight

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Scientists raise hopes for a large-scale renewable source of liquid fuel with a simple reactor that mimics plants

Damian Carrington | Thursday December 23 2010 19.00 GMT

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."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/23/reactor-fuel-sunlight

[immoderate]

1. Copper is not all that abundant. What happens to the cerium?

Just wondering. Does it go down the drainium? :shrug:

--imm

[Statistical]

3. Abundance is always relative. Platinum $28,000 per lb, Copper $4 per lb.

[adnelson60087]

6. Read the article. It says the Ce acts a catalyst

to generate power. It looks very interesting.

[FogerRox]

8. to generate liquid fuel.

It creates the feed stock to make a synthetic fuel.

[immoderate]

16. Then what happens to the cerium?

It will eventually have to be disposed of. It can be toxic.

--imm

[eppur_se_muova]

20. Cerium oxide is a refactory ceramic, and easily recyclable.

Nor should it be expected to be used up fast. This is a very rugged material.

[immoderate]

23. Thanks. Somebody...

has to worry about these things. :shrug:

--imm

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

43. Those were my first 2 questions, too.

My third was "Which countries have large deposits of cerium and when do we invade?"

Good news. It's apparently fairly abundant. Maybe we'll attack ourselves?

[Le Taz Hot]

50. LOL!

:fistbump:

[eppur_se_muova]

37. Oops, that's "refractory". :^( mp 2400 Celsius.

Previously used in the production of H2 from H2O as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerium(IV)_oxide-cerium(III)_oxide_cycle

[sofa king]

52. And, it's a catalyst.

Which means it should come out at the end of the reaction unchanged, and thus completely reusable.

[The Doctor.]

2. Very cool.

Have to take a better look. Sure hope it's for real.

[FogerRox]

4. Oh boy.....

"the reactor cycled up to 1,600C then down to 800C " using a parabolic mirror, it produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can be converted to a liquid fuel. SO another device would be needed to complete the work.


Yawn

[Devil_Fish]

5. Great, Just what our planet needs, Carbon Monoxide. Awesome. NT

[FogerRox]

7. Hydrogen and Carbon monoxide, form a hydrocarbon

or liquid fuel.

Which makes this kind of research a big so what. In the long term liquid fuels are not viable on the large scale they have been.

[ashling]

11. Your attitude is interesting

considering your sig. line

[DetlefK]

14. Nope, because atomic oxygen has a higher electro-affinity than atomic hydrogen.

At the end of the article it says, that the CO is later converted to fuel in a different step.

[FogerRox]

24. at the end of the article it says

CO and Hydrogen are used as feed stocks for liquid fuel. Which is a hydrocarbon.

[jmowreader]

39. You're right. It does.

Carbon monoxide is a very common feedstock in chemical plants, used to make all sorts of useful things.

You just don't let it out into the environment.

[lfairban]

26. I don't get it!

If it is producing H₂ which is ideal for fuel cells, why would you want to combine it with CO to make hydrocarbons?

The reason fuel cell electric cars are not a good idea is that you create more pollution producing the H₂ than you displace by not using an ICE.

[muriel_volestrangler]

45. Liquid fuels are portable, with high energy density

Hydrogen requires a heavy tank to contain it - either highly pressurized, extremely cold, or in some material than can absorb and then release the hydrogen. A liquid fuel, such as various hydrocarbons, just need a container.

This process gets its carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so it is carbon neutral, just like using biofuels.

[primavera]

49. Don't worry

If they ever come close to perfecting the process, you can be certain that the oil and gas industry will have them all killed.

[Flagrante]

9. She expects to treble the current efficiency?

I wonder what she basses that on?

[rucky]

15. I think she relies on notes from her staff.

[JDPriestly]

10. As usual, skeptics come in to make derogatory remarks

thus discouraging innovation that we truly need.

Let the scientists do study this potential energy source.

After all, what we have now is not only harming our environment, endangering life as we know it on our planet but also set to run out before long.

This new energy source could be our future. One thing is certain. Oil is our past. Oil is becoming too expensive and too dangerous to produce and distribute. We cannot continue to rely on oil. Face it.

Give new energy a chance.

[FogerRox]

13. Burning liquid fuels is bad for global warming, or did you forget that?

[immoderate]

17. Not if they are made from renewables.

Renewable fuels pull carbon from the air and recycle it. Fossil fuels have carbon that is sequestered.

--imm

[FogerRox]

22. My bad, on the carbon

Look at production:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerium

[immoderate]

25. Yeah, I posed the environmental question above.

Apparently, it's not consumed and can be recycled. It's production has to be weighed against the total costs of using another substance and whatever process that implies. Where's my slide rule?

--imm

[lfairban]

27. Usually, Scientists ARE the skeptics.

They are not discouraging innovation that we need, they are discouraging investment that we don't need in things that don't work.

[DeSwiss]

12. K&R

This is a big fucking deal! :)

[Turborama]

18. BBC: New solar fuel machine 'mimics plant life'

By Neil Bowdler
Science reporter, BBC News

A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel.

The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported.

Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night.

The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12051167


In the prototype, sunlight heats a ceria cylinder
which breaks down water or carbon dioxide

[eppur_se_muova]

19. Dupe -- already posted in E/E

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=268879&mesg_id=268879

[Turborama]

21. It's not a duplicate in LBN, though

Thanks for the link to your one, I have given it a K&R.

[lildreamer316]

51. Yes, it was.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x269041

[highplainsdem]

28. K&R

[pgodbold]

29. Device uses sunlight to make liquid fuel

Source: Raw Story

Scientists from the US and Switzerland have created a prototype machine that harnesses the sun's energy to make liquid fuels from water.

Using a parabolic mirror to focus sunlight, the device heats up cerium oxide to 1,600 degrees celcius in the presence of water or carbon dioxide, creating either hydrogen or carbon monoxide, which can be converted to liquid fuels.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/scientists-machine-turns-sunlight-fuel/

[Sonoman]

30. NPR had a very interesting segment on this, yesterday.

The process is highly inefficient at present, but that cerium stuff never goes away. I believe this process has serious potential.

Sonoman

[truthisfreedom]

40. Yes, it breaks down water to make hydrogen, but when hydrogen burns, it turns back into water and is

released into the atmosphere.

[droidamus2]

31. How soon

will the people that control the oil industry buy up that technology and hide it away so they can keep gouging us until all the oil is gone. Of course, then they'll break out this fantastic 'new' technology and pretend they are our saviors (at a price).

[KansDem]

46. That was my first thought...

...will the people that control the oil industry buy up that technology and hide it away so they can keep gouging us until all the oil is gone.

I believe it's their M.O.

[valerief]

32. Water will be the new oil. nt

[KansDem]

47. Maybe that's why the Bush Family purchased almost 100,000 acres in Paraguay...

...above (one of) the largest aquifers for that region.

When this story broke, one observer wondered if the Bushes wanted to be the "Saudis of water."

Google search: bush purchases 99000 acres in paraguay

Why the news of a sitting president buying that much land in another region of the world never made US news is beyond me...

[rhett o rick]

33. Dont get too excited. Standard Oil will buy and bury it. nm

[earcandle]

34. Do it!

[Marthe48]

35. There go the oceans

n/t

[Lorien]

36. You forgot the

:sarcasm:

[Marthe48]

38. Not sure I was being sarcastic...

I told my husband a few years back, if we could run cars on dirt, humans would use up the planet!

[On the Road]

This is Better News

than more efficient ways to make electricity. There is so much invested in the auto infrastructure that I have to think that the next energy source is going to be something that goes into a tank. Imitating photosynthesis would seem to be a natural way to approach it.

[On the Road]

41. This is Better News

than more efficient ways to make electricity. There is so much invested in the auto infrastructure that I have to think that the next energy source is going to be something that goes into a tank. Imitating photosynthesis would seem to be a natural way to approach it.

[DeadEyeDyck]

42. KnR

[fascisthunter]

44. so we would still be burning a fuel?

[stevenleser]

48. Unfortunately, this is a non-starter. Fresh water is a scarce resource throughout much of the planet

We cannot afford to use fresh water as a fuel source like this.

[sofa king]

53. But combined with a solar still....

...it could be used on wastewater, sewage, sea water, and so on. As long as the solar still relies on its own solar power, the converter is still able to produce valuable liquid energy storage without having to divert its energy into purification.

But it would likely be twice as expensive and large as the thing by itself.