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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday September 20 2017, @04:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the can-we-make-vodka-too? dept.

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have harnessed the power of photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into fuels and alcohols at efficiencies far greater than plants. The achievement marks a significant milestone in the effort to move toward sustainable sources of fuel.

Many systems have successfully reduced carbon dioxide to chemical and fuel precursors, such as carbon monoxide or a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen known as syngas. This new work, described in a study published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, is the first to successfully demonstrate the approach of going from carbon dioxide directly to target products, namely ethanol and ethylene, at energy conversion efficiencies rivaling natural counterparts
....
For this JCAP study, researchers engineered a complete system to work at different times of day, not just at a light energy level of 1-sun illumination, which is equivalent to the peak of brightness at high noon on a sunny day. They varied the brightness of the light source to show that the system remained efficient even in low light conditions.

When the researchers coupled the electrodes to silicon photovoltaic cells, they achieved solar conversion efficiencies of 3 to 4 percent for 0.35 to 1-sun illumination. Changing the configuration to a high-performance, tandem solar cell connected in tandem yielded a conversion efficiency to hydrocarbons and oxygenates exceeding 5 percent at 1-sun illumination.

The ethanol-fueled rejoice.


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  • (Score: 1) by dwilson on Thursday September 21 2017, @03:43AM (1 child)

    by dwilson (2599) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 21 2017, @03:43AM (#570969) Journal

    Every time a new way of making alcohols comes up, it's always an eth-something. I get it, eth is fairly low in the series, so it's presumably easier to achieve (Methyl, Ethyl, Propyl, Butyl, Pentyl, etc..).

    But as far as I know, Butanol can be burned in a gasoline engine without any modifications required. No screwing around with the fuel system, no E85/E100 ratings, just dump it in to the tank and go. The only downside is a horrendous stench and somewhat lower energy density than gasoline, which reduces milage. More L/100km, in other words. Both of which would be a small price to pay for transitioning away from fossil fuels while we wait for battery tech to stop sucking. I could very well be wrong, but I'm sure I read somewhere (here or slashdot) that switching from gasoline to butanol was worlds easier and cheaper than gasoline->ethanol, and the only issue was producing the butanol.

    So why is every university and lab focused on the ethyls? Ethly-anything having a bigger awareness in the public mind, leading to more funding?

    --
    - D
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:16AM (#570976)

    > why is every university and lab focused on the ethyls?

    Not sure, but maybe it's time to follow the money. Is big Ag behind some of this, making it look like ethanol is the future (meanwhile selling a lot of corn ethanol)? If so, a prime suspect is ADM (Archer-Daniels-Midland).