Renewable CO₂ recycling and synthetic fuel production in a marine environment

Patterson, Bruce D.; Mo, Frode; Borgschulte, Andreas; Hillestad, Magne; Joos, Fortunat; Kristiansen, Trygve; Sunde, Svein; van Bokhoven, Jeroen A. (2019). Renewable CO₂ recycling and synthetic fuel production in a marine environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - PNAS, 116(25), pp. 12212-12219. National Academy of Sciences NAS 10.1073/pnas.1902335116

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A massive reduction in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel burning is required to limit the extent of global warming. However, carbonbased liquid fuels will in the foreseeable future continue to be important energy storage media. We propose a combination of largely existing technologies to use solar energy to recycle atmospheric CO₂ into a liquid fuel. Our concept is clusters of marinebased floating islands, on which photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electrical energy to produce H2 and to extract CO₂ from seawater, where it is in equilibrium with the atmosphere. These gases are then reacted to form the energy carrier methanol, which is conveniently shipped to the end consumer. The present work initiates the development of this concept and highlights relevant questions in physics, chemistry, and mechanics. into a liquid fuel. Our concept is clusters of marinebased floating islands, on which photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electrical energy to produce H₂ and to extract CO₂ from seawater, where it is in equilibrium with the atmosphere. These gases are then reacted to form the energy carrier methanol, which is conveniently shipped to the end consumer. The present work initiates the development of this concept and highlights relevant questions in physics, chemistry, and mechanics.

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Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics 10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) 08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute
UniBE Contributor:	Joos, Fortunat
Subjects:	500 Science > 530 Physics 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
ISSN:	0027-8424
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences NAS
Language:	English
Submitter:	Fortunat Joos
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2019 09:42
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:32
Publisher DOI:	10.1073/pnas.1902335116
BORIS DOI:	10.7892/boris.135331
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/135331

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