Perovskite La0.6Sr0.4Cr1−xCoxO3−δ solid solutions for solar-thermochemical fuel production: strategies to lower the operation temperature

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (30) ◽  
pp. 15546-15557 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Bork ◽  
M. Kubicek ◽  
M. Struzik ◽  
J. L. M. Rupp

Storing abundant solar energy in synthetic fuels is key to ensure a sustainable energy future by replacing fossil fuels and reducing global warming emissions.

Author(s):  
Seyed Ehsan Hosseini

Renewable and sustainable energy has an evolving story as the ongoing trade war in the word is influencing crude oil prices. Moreover, the global warming is an inevitable consequence of the worldwide increasing rate of fossil fuel utilization which has persuaded the governments to invest on the clean and sustainable energy resources. In recent years, the cost of green energy has tumbled, making the price of renewables competitive to the fossil fuels. Although, the hydrogen fuel is still extremely expensive compared to the crude oil price, investigations about clean hydrogen fuel production and utilization has been developed significantly which demonstrate the importance of the hydrogen fuel in the future. This article aims to scrutinize the importance of green hydrogen fuel production from solar/wind energy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 764 ◽  
pp. 1-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibram Ganesh

This article reviews the literature related to the direct uses of CO2and its conversion into various value added chemicals including high energy density liquid fuels such as methanol. The increase in the direct uses of CO2and its conversion into potential chemical commodities is very important as it directly contributes to the mitigation of CO2related global warming problem. The method being followed at present in several countries to reduce the CO2associated global warming is capturing of CO2at its major outlets using monoethanolamine based solution absorption technique followed by storing it in safe places such as, oceans, depleted coal seams, etc., (i.e., carbon dioxide capturing and storing in safe places, CCS process). This is called as CO2sequestration. Although, the CCS process is the most understood and immediate option to mitigate the global warming problem, it is considerably expensive and has become a burden for those countries, which are practicing this process. The other alternative and most beneficial way of mitigating this global warming problem is to convert the captured CO2into certain value added bulk chemicals instead of disposing it. Conversion of CO2into methanol has been identified as one of such cost effective ways of mitigating global warming problem. Further, if H2is produced from exclusively water using only solar energy instead of any fossil fuel based energy, and is used to convert CO2into methanol there are three major benefits: i) it contributes greatly to the global warming mitigation problem, ii) it greatly saves fossil fuels as methanol production from CO2could be an excellent sustainable and renewable energy resource, and iii) as on today, there is no better process than this to store energy in a more convenient and highly usable form of high energy density liquid fuel. Not only methanol, several other potential chemicals and value added chemical intermediates can be produced from CO2. In this article, i) synthesis of several commodity chemicals including poly and cyclic-carbonates, sodium carbonate and dimethyl carbonate, carbamates, urea, vicinal diamines, 2-arylsuccinic acids, dimethyl ether, methanol, various hydrocarbons, acetic acid, formaldehyde, formic acid, lower alkanes, etc., from CO2, ii) the several direct uses of CO2, and iii) the importance of producing methanol from CO2using exclusively solar energy are presented, discussed and summarized by citing all the relevant and important references.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuankun Zhang ◽  
Geoff Brooks ◽  
M Akbar Rhamdhani ◽  
Chunsheng Guo

Abstract Harnessing concentrated high-flux solar energy to drive thermal processes over 1000? for fuel production and material processing has great potential to address environmental issues associated with fossil fuels. There is now also interest in solar thermal processing under extraterrestrial (e.g., lunar) conditions, which has the potential to provide materials and power for future space exploration and base construction with local resources as feedstock. In this review article, the recent progress on conventional solar thermochemical systems used for lunar production is reviewed. Important results are discussed to identify the applicability of existing devices and models at lunar conditions. Finally, the challenges ahead and promising directions are presented.


Author(s):  
J. Nowotny ◽  
T. N. Veziroglu

The present work considers the impact of hydrogen fuel on the environment within the cycles of its generation and combustion. Hydrogen has been portrayed by the media as a fuel that is environmentally clean because its combustion results in the formation of harmless water. However, hydrogen first must be generated. The effect of hydrogen generation on the environment depends on the production process and the related byproducts. Hydrogen available on the market at present is mainly generated by using steam reforming of natural gas, which is a fossil fuel. Its byproduct is CO2, which is a greenhouse gas and its emission results in global warming and climate change. Therefore, hydrogen generated from fossil fuels is contributing to global warming to the similar extent as direct combustion of the fossil fuels. On the other hand hydrogen obtained from renewable energy, such solar energy, is environmentally clean during the cycles of its generation and combustion. Consequently, the introduction of hydrogen economy must be accompanied by the development of hydrogen that is environmentally friendly. The present work considers several aspects related to the generation and utilisation of hydrogen obtained by steam reforming and solar energy conversion (solar-hydrogen).


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Sinval F. Sousa ◽  
Breno L. Souza ◽  
Cristiane L. Barros ◽  
Antonio Otavio T. Patrocinio

The large and continuous use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source has led to several environmental problems, such as the increase of the greenhouse effect. In order to minimize these problems, attention has been drawn to renewable energy production. Solar energy is an attractive candidate as renewable source due to its abundance and availability. For this, it is necessary to develop devices able to absorb sunlight and convert it into fuels or electricity in a economical, technical and sustainable way. The so-called artificial photosynthesis has called the attention of researchers due to the possibility of using solar photocatalysts in converting water and CO2 into fuels. This manuscript presents a review of the recent developments of hybrid systems based on molecular photocatalysts immobilized on semiconductor surfaces for solar fuel production through water oxidation and CO2 reduction and also discusses the current challenges for the potential application of these photocatalyst systems.


Author(s):  
Elena Selli

Energy is the most important issue of the 21st century. Due to severe environmental problems, mainly related to air pollution of urban areas and green house effects leading to global warming, fossil fuels need to be replaced by renewable energy sources. Beside the wind energy, which is progressively more and more exploited, solar energy represents a clean, abundant, diffuse and economical energy which can be converted into heat, electricity or in the form of so called solar fuels, provided special materials are developed able to efficiently absorb solar light and produce charge separation. This is the prerequisite for obtaining electricity from sunlight and solar fuels, e.g. hydrogen from water photosplitting or carbon containing species from carbon dioxide photoinduced reduction, which can be stored and used on need. Converting solar energy into chemical energy is thus a big challenge for chemistry.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (10) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
Nesrin Ozalp ◽  
Christian Sattler ◽  
James F. Klausner ◽  
James E. Miller

This article discusses the potential use of solar energy in various industrial processes. Solar energy is usually considered in terms of making electricity, but it also has the potential to replace fossil fuels in the production of liquid fuels, and in driving endothermic industrial processes. Solar thermochemical processes are feasible, and a solar power concentration process that harnesses sunlight's infrared energy is the best-suited technology for making solar fuels a reality. However, in spite of their appeal, solar thermochemical processes also have the same drawback that direct solar power has: the transient and diurnal nature of sunshine. Fluctuations of available solar radiation – over the course of a day, across different types of weather, and from season to season – present considerable challenges for potential solar-thermal systems. While there are economically affordable and commercially available solutions to some of those problems, substantial research and development is still required.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romdhane Ben Slama

The global warming which preoccupies humanity, is still considered to be linked to a single cause which is the emission of greenhouse gases, CO2 in particular. In this article, we try to show that, on the one hand, the greenhouse effect (the radiative imprisonment to use the scientific term) took place in conjunction with the infrared radiation emitted by the earth. The surplus of CO2 due to the combustion of fossil fuels, but also the surplus of infrared emissions from artificialized soils contribute together or each separately,  to the imbalance of the natural greenhouse effect and the trend of global warming. In addition, another actor acting directly and instantaneously on the warming of the ambient air is the heat released by fossil fuels estimated at 17415.1010 kWh / year inducing a rise in temperature of 0.122 ° C, or 12.2 ° C / century.


Author(s):  
E. L. Wolf

This is a physics textbook describing, at a college level, the physics and technology needed to provide sustainable long-term energy, past the era of fossil fuels. A summary is given of global power generation and consumption, with estimates of times until conventional fuels will deplete. Sustainable power sources, largely those coming from the Sun directly or indirectly, are described. As sustainable energy must preserve the Earth’s atmosphere and climate, key elements of these topics are included. Key energy technologies in this book include photovoltaics, wind turbines and the electric power grid, for which the underlying physics is developed. Nuclear fusion is described in the context of the Sun’s energy generation, in a brief description of tokamak fusion reactors, and also to introduce ideas of quantum physics needed for adequate treatment of photovoltaic devices. Energy flow in and out of the Earth’s atmosphere is discussed, including the role of greenhouse gas impurities arising from fossil fuel burning as trapping heat and raising the Earth’s temperature. Discussion is included of the Earth’s climatic history and future. Exercises are included for each chapter.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 931
Author(s):  
Yin Xu ◽  
Giovanni Zangari

Electromagnetic light from the Sun is the largest source, and the cleanest energy available to us; extensive efforts have been dedicated to developing science and engineering solutions in order to avoid the use of fossil fuels. Solar energy transforms photons into electricity via the photovoltaic effect, generating about 20 GW of energy in the USA in 2020, sufficient to power about 17 million households. However, sunlight is erratic, and technologies to store electric energy storage are unwieldy and relatively expensive. A better solution to store energy and to deliver this energy on demand is storage in chemical bonds: synthesizing fuels such as H2, methane, ethanol, and other chemical species. In this review paper we focus on titania (TiO2) nanotubes grown through electrochemical anodization and various modifications made to them to enhance conversion efficiency; these semiconductors will be used to implement the synthesis of H2 through water splitting. This document reviews selected research efforts on TiO2 that are ongoing in our group in the context of the current efforts worldwide. In addition, this manuscript is enriched by discussing the latest novelties in this field.


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