The production of synthetic fuel by combining carbon capture and solar power has long been the elusive goal of chemists. Indeed, the steps of turning air into fuels are relatively straightforward: first, carbon dioxide and water are collected from ambient air. Second, those two ingredients are converted into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, using heat that is collected by a set of mirrors used to concentrate sunlight. In the last step, using copper-based catalysts, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are converted into hydrocarbon fuels like methane or kerosene.
Now, researchers from ETH Zurich have created a device that performs all those steps above as a single coherent production platform installed on the roof of a lab in Zurich. Even though the process is slow - over the course of the day with 7 hours of useful sunlight, the team was able to produce just 32 milliliters of methanol - nevertheless it’s still quite an achievement in producing hydrocarbon fuel out of thin air using just sunlight!
The team has published their research findings in the journal Nature and suggest ways to optimize and scale the procedure.
Image: ETH Zurich
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