New Materials Could Turn Water into Fuel

technology networks ^ | Mar 06, 2017 | Caltech

[ckilmer]

Researchers at Caltech and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have, in just two years, nearly doubled the number of materials known to have potential for use in solar fuels. They did so by developing a process that promises to speed the discovery of commercially viable solar fuels that could replace coal, oil, and other fossil fuels.

Solar fuels, a dream of clean-energy research, are created using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide (CO2). Researchers are exploring a range of target fuels, from hydrogen gas to liquid hydrocarbons, and producing any of these fuels involves splitting water.

[Chaguito]

There is an physical limit on how much energy can be harvested from sunlight to accomplish this energetically uphill conversion. Enough to power a nation of automobiles? Not likely. Add to that limit the energy required to get the CO2 to the widely dispersed solar conversion units...

[ckilmer]

Speaking for myself— He is risen.

[ak267]

true, but LFTRs give you options to do a lot of things

and I love a world full of options

[Covenantor]

FYI

Lead:

“A new type of electrode developed by researchers at RMIT University has the potential to not only boost the capacity of existing energy storage technologies by 3000 per cent, but it opens the door to the development of flexible, thin film, all-in-one solar capture and storage....”

Read more at

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/04/australian-scientists-just-made-a-major-breakthough-that-could-put-solar-power-anywhere/#Iz0857tCDk30Ezcb.99

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