Solar Energy to Biofuels

Abstract

In a solar economy, sustainably available biomass holds the potential to be an excellent nonfossil source of high energy density transportation fuel. However, if sustainably available biomass cannot supply the liquid fuel need for the entire transport sector, alternatives must be sought. This article reviews biomass to liquid fuel conversion processes that treat biomass primarily as a carbon source and boost liquid fuel production substantially by using supplementary energy that is recovered from solar energy at much higher efficiencies than the biomass itself. The need to develop technologies for an energy-efficient future sustainable transport sector infrastructure that will use different forms of energy, such as electricity, H(2), and heat, in a synergistic interaction with each other is emphasized. An enabling template for such a future transport infrastructure is presented. An advantage of the use of such a template is that it reduces the land area needed to propel an entire transport sector. Also, some solutions for the transition period that synergistically combine biomass with fossil fuels are briefly discussed.

Transferring Electrochemical CO2 Reduction from Semi‐Batch into Continuous Operation Mode Using Gas Diffusion Electrodes

“…Specific measures are manifold and it is clear that this can only be achieved by shifting global energy generation as well as chemical production away from fossil towards renewable and alternative resources 2, 3. In this respect, CO 2 is an attractive feedstock as it can be gathered as by‐product in many chemical processes but also in reactions encountered in biorefineries such as biogas production or ethanol fermentation.…”

Round-the-clock power supply and a sustainable economy via synergistic integration of solar thermal power and hydrogen processes

“…The human race faces enormous challenges, not only because of a tremendous predicted increase in energy consumption as the world population continues to rise and economies develop but also because of the growing need to provide diverse forms of energy to meet society's demands for electricity, chemicals, heating, food, and transportation (6,41,42). In the current energy sector, production and delivery of all these needs are almost exclusively dependent on fossil resources.…”

Limiting and achievable efficiencies for solar thermal hydrogen production

“…The intent is to explore the long-term potential of different STH 2 processes from a thermodynamic viewpoint, rather than looking at what is practical or economical in the short-term. The presented framework can also be extended to evaluate the STF efficiency of producing carbon-based fuels from CO 2 and H 2 O.…”