£1.2 million funding for project to create clean fuel from sunlight and CO2
Thu 07 March 2013
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Scientists working to develop a reactor that produces fuel using sunlight and carbon dioxide in a bid to cut carbon emissions has been granted £1.2 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The international research team, led by Edinburgh-based Heriot-Watt University, is seeking to increase the efficiency of photocatalytic reduction, a process that uses solar energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuels.
Any carbon produced when the “clean fuel” is used is converted back into energy through a “closed loop” system, the researchers say. If it is successful on a commercial scale, the scientists estimate the process could offset up to 700 million tonnes of CO2 each year.
According to the University, existing photo-catalytic reduction processes do not produce enough fuel to make them financially viable. The project will involve developing new, highly efficient photo-reactors, with conversion rates that can be scaled-up to a commercial process.
Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Director of the Centre for Innovation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), will lead the work in the UK and the team includes engineers and chemists based in Taiwan, the US, Canada and China. She said: "By developing this novel reactor and processes, we could unlock a hugely significant source of carbon-neutral fuel. We are working on creating a technology that will turn this into a genuine game-changer, turning a climate-changing gas into a climate-saving fuel.
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