Two-Step Solar Tech Could Make Fuel While Scrubbing Atmosphere Clean

There are individuals whose curiosity and talent are so strong that they become able to offer solutions to challenges as if pulled from thin air. And occasionally, that can be taken quite literally: last year we wrote of a technological innovation that can derive potable water from atmospheric moisture, even in arid environments.

Current reporting from PhysOrg offers a peek at something that is even more astonishing: researchers announce the development of solar technology that creates carbon-based feedstock (suitable for use in the manufacture of synthetic fuels), and it does so through the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. More astoundingly, if the technology were implemented at scale, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would reportedly be returned to pre-industrial levels in about a decade.

The discovery and its eyebrow-raising promise arise through a collaboration between scientists at George Washington and Howard Universities, both in Washington D.C. The process which is named Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo (STEP) carbon capture was first proposed by the research team as theoretically feasible, and with the publication of findings in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, the viability of the technology has been successfully demonstrated.

One of the researchers behind the breakthrough, chemist Stuart Licht from The George Washington University, explains the importance to PhysOrg:

"The significance of the study is twofold. Carbon dioxide, a non-reactive and normally difficult-to-remove compound, can be easily captured with solar energy using our new low-energy, lithium carbonate electrolysis STEP process, and with scale-up, sufficient resources exist for STEP to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels within 10 years."

As PhysOrg explains, the STEP process operates on a two-phased solar technology, putting both the light from the sun and the heat from the sun to perform separate tasks. The visible light drives an electrolysis cell that splits carbon dioxide molecule (into either pure carbon, or carbon monoxide), while the heat energy from the sun is applied to driving up the temperatures required for the molecular change, and allowing it to occur at even greater efficiency.

The process is reportedly the first solar innovation that simultaneously makes use of both the thermal and visible portions of the sun's energy, positioning it to make use of a greater percentage of incoming solar energy than either photovoltaic or solar thermal applications by themselves. And while the improved efficiency is worth noting by itself, the promise of a means for atmospheric carbon dioxide capture is nothing short of tantalizing, not to mention that the carbon that is removed could be subsequently transformed back into fuel.

As PhysOrg explains, the carbon (in elemental form) could be stored indefinitely, or if the sequestered carbon dioxide were split into carbon monoxide form it could then easily serve as feedstock for the manufacture of synthetic jet fuel, kerosene and diesel.

Photo by motolaura via Wikimedia Commons.