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Team awarded $122m to develop sunlight to fuel technology

The scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis, the process that plants use to produce energy from sunlight and carbon dioxide

The US Department of Energy has awarded $122 million to a team of top scientists to work on technology to generate fuels directly from sunlight.

The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a partnership led by the California Institute of Technology and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will set up an Energy Innovation Hub to focus on the technology.

The Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub will bring together leading researchers to develop solar-to-chemical fuel conversion systems.

Making use of nature’s own photosynthesis process, the aim of the project will be to progress the technology from the laboratory bench to a scale ready for commercialization.

Announcing the five-year funding award yesterday, US Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman said: “Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do – combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide – would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security.

“This Energy Innovation Hub will enable our scientists to combine their talents to tackle this bold and highly promising challenge,” added Deputy Secretary Poneman.

Research

JCAP research in the new Energy Hub will look at various components required for an artificial photosynthesis system – light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers and separation membranes.

The Hub will then combine these components into an operational solar fuel system, developing strategies to scale up the technology for commercialization.

Cal Tech professor of chemistry Nathan S Lewis will direct the Hub, which will also see contributions from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Irvine; and the University of California, San Diego.