Solar Fuels: Biomass Fuel Starts to See the Light

Science
11 December 2009:
Vol. 326. no. 5959, p. 1474
DOI: 10.1126/science.326.5959.1474
by Robert F. Service

Even with a major push, commercial plants capable of turning CO2 or water into liquid fuels are still likely to be 2 decades away. A simpler version of the technology, however, already appears headed to market.

Even with a major push, commercial plants capable of turning CO2 or water into liquid fuels are still likely to be 2 decades away. A simpler version of the technology, however, already appears headed to market. Sundrop Fuels Inc., an energy start-up based in Louisville, Colorado, recently commissioned a 1-megawatt solar array to convert wood waste and other forms of biomass into a gaseous blend of carbon monoxide and hydrogen—known as synthesis gas—that can be converted into gasoline. The plant uses an array of 2700 mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a 20-meter-tall solar tower to produce heat needed to drive the chemical reactor. The company has told Science that in 2012 it intends to open a commercial plant capable of capturing 60 megawatts and use that energy to produce 19 million liters of gasoline annually.

Read the full story