Manmade Photosynthesis May Prove an Infinite Source of Energy
Is Alternative Energy Investment Overlooking ‘Sunthetics?’
Global investment in renewable energy research has grown more than 50% in the past five years to US$ 110 billion.
While that is no small amount, the majority of that investment is geared toward electricity generation. But there
is no suitable substitute for oil. With global demand projected to reach 92.1 million barrels of oil a day by 2020, it
might be time to challenge the conventional wisdom of our alternative energy investment to include a renewable
alternative to oil.
The top five countries that invest the most in alternative energy (China, the United States, the United Kingdom,
Spain, and Brazil), to a great extent, seem to be overlooking an alternative that promises to provide an infinite source
of liquid energy – ‘sunthetics’ – fuel produced from the sun through a process similar to photosynthesis.
One newly formed research organization committed to finding a commercially viable way to produce liquid fuel
from the sun is the Research Triangle Solar Fuels Institute (RTSFI), headquartered in Research Triangle Park in
North Carolina. The Institute is a collaborative between Duke University, the University of North Carolina, North
Carolina State University, and RTI International, a non-profit research organization dedicated to improving the
human condition by turning knowledge into practice.
RTSFI has gathered a stellar cast of National Academy of Science and Engineering members. Executive Director Dr.
Jim Trainham previously held positions in industry as Vice President of Science & Technology for PPG Industries,
Chief Technology Officer for Invista, Inc. (DuPont), and Senior Vice President at Sundrop Fuels, Inc., a company
pursuing unique solar gasification technology. Chief Engineer Dr. John S. Newman is Research Triangle Institute
Distinguished Fellow and Professor of the Graduate School at University of California, Berkeley, where he has won
numerous awards for fundamental work in electrochemical engineering. RTSFI Chief Scientist Dr. Thomas Meyer,
one of the most highly cited chemists in the world, is a pioneer in solar fuels research, having pursued economically
feasible solar fuels for 35 years, some of that time as Associate Director for Strategic Research at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico.
The researchers are quick to point out that the sun provides more energy to the earth’s surface in one hour than
mankind uses in a year.
“We have all the pieces in place – the vision, expertise, and commercial development experience to make this
happen,” says Trainham. “With appropriate funding we will inevitably harness the energy from our world’s largest,
most dependable source of energy and be able to store it chemically.”
As intriguing as that sounds, much work must be done to make ‘sunthetic’ fuel, solar driven transportation liquids
such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, a reality. But all three experts believe world knowledge in chemistry, materials
engineering, and nanotechnology, has advanced to the point that solar fuel as an affordable energy source, is closer
than ever before.
With sufficient funding for research and development, they say it is possible, in as little as a decade, to do what nature
has done for millions of years through photosynthesis – create and store energy from the sun.
Sunlight in
H20 in
Glucose out
O2 out
CO2 in
How scientists make liquid fuel from the sun
RTSFI's Way: artificial photosynthesis
Sunlight in
H20 in
Sunlight
Capture
Panel
Catalysis
H2 out
CO2 in
Refinement
CO2 Capture from
Industrial Processes
Storage
O2 out industrial sales
Intermediate Fuel
Production
Methanol
DME
Syngas
Final Fuel
Gasoline
Diesel/Kerosene
Jet Fuel
The “sunthetics” process starts by splitting water with the sun’s energy. When the
hydrogen and oxygen are separated the oxygen is sold, as an industrial gas while the
hydrogen moves to the next step in the process.
In the next stage a catalytic reaction combines the hydrogen with carbon dioxide
to yield intermediate fuels such as methanol and dimethylether (DME). In the last
production stage, the final fuel is produced in the form of gasoline. Diesel and jet fuel
can also be produced via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
Over the past three decades funding for solar fuel research has ebbed and flowed based on the economics of
petroleum; high interest when petroleum prices rises, lower when prices fall. A number of factors are converging
now to make solar fuels more appealing. Demand in China, India, and developing countries is up. Prices at the
pump will likely exceed five dollars per gallon this year. Possibly six. Environmental disasters due to accidents have
colored perceptions about subsea drilling and nuclear energy has hit a roadblock triggered by seismic activity in
Japan.
Such factors have converged in the past to make solar fuels research enticing but another factor is now emerging to
make it realistic – government subsidies. Economic pressure is growing on oil exporting governments to reduce or
eliminate subsidies in their countries and let market forces set prices. Similarly, pressure is growing on oil importing
governments to cut subsidies to oil companies to reduce budget deficits.
Using the U.S. as an example, RTSFI maintains that the true price most people pay for gasoline at the pump is
actually much higher—from five to eight dollars higher—when accounting for the hidden costs of importing oil to
refine gasoline. Numerous credible studies show trillions of dollars have been drained from the US economy because
oil is imported to make gasoline. America loses jobs, federal and state income, and spends a significant amount on
defense in the Middle East to stabilize global oil prices.
“Financing sunthetic research is not for the faint of heart,” says Dr. Trainham, “But when the true price of gasoline
and diesel are recognized, investors may very well consider financing capital projects as big as these will be.”
With demand for energy increasing, can our world afford not to invest in every potential source of alternative energy?
Published on www.energyglobal.com 05/11/2011