(150c) Sustainable Aviation Fuels from Sunlight and Air

Developing solar technologies for producing carbon-neutral transportation fuels has become a global energy challenge, especially for the long-haul aviation sector. A promising solution are drop-in fuels produced from H₂O and CO₂ − synthetic alternatives for petroleum-derived liquid hydrocarbons, such as kerosene and gasoline, which are compatible with the worldwide existing infrastructures for fuel distribution, storage, and end-use. Among the many possible approaches for solar-driven processes, the thermochemical path using concentrated solar radiation utilizes the entire solar spectrum as the source of high-temperature process heat to drive redox reactions with high kinetic rates and energy efficiencies. We now demonstrate the stable operation under field conditions of the entire thermochemical solar fuel production chain to drop-in fuels from concentrated sunlight and ambient air¹. The solar fuel system integrates three thermochemical conversion processes, namely: 1) the co-extraction of CO₂ and H₂O directly from air via an amine-based adsorption-desorption cycle; 2) the solar co-splitting of CO₂ and H₂O to produce a tailored syngas mixture via a ceria-based redox cycle; and 3) the conversion of syngas to liquid hydrocarbons via Fischer-Tropsch or methanol synthesis. We further scale-up the solar reactor technology and demonstrate the production of synthetic kerosene using a solar tower configuration², setting a technological milestone towards the industrial production of sustainable aviation fuels.

References:

1. Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air. Nature 601, 63-68 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04174-y
2. A solar tower fuel plant for the thermochemical production of kerosene from H₂O and CO₂. Joule 6, 1606-1616 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.06.012