TSRC Town Talks: Solar Fuel 2.0

29 Jun TSRC Town Talks: Solar Fuel 2.0

A global problem with a global solution

By 2100, the world’s global energy consumption will amount to over triple its rate in 2001. Currently, fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) supply 85% of this demand, but their supplies are limited, and their combustion is linked to detrimental climate changes. To meet carbon-neutral energy needs, scientists are turning to the most abundant and reliable source: the sun.

The Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC)’s Town Talks presents “Solar Fuel 2.0,” a discussion led by two Solar Fuels Institute (SOFI) founders, Dick Co, Northwestern University Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and Kimberly Williams, MBA and Telluride local. The talk  is Tuesday, July 2,  6 p.m. at the historic Sheridan Opera House, 110 N. Oak Street.

SOFI is among the newest waves of initiatives aimed at capturing the sun’s energy and converting it into renewable fuels through chemical methods that mimic photosynthesis. Except, SOFI is not a traditional research consortium. It’s not exclusive to certain academic labs and government agencies; it’s not even partial to a specific technology.

“SOFI’s fundamental difference is not the process or the chemistry, it’s the people,” said Dick Co, SOFI’s Co-managing Director of Operations.

“SOFI is about bringing people together from around the globe into trusting relationships to do science,” said Williams, Co-managing Director of Development and Strategy at SOFI.

Williams is not just referring to distinguished academics. She’s talking about integrating people in finance, public policy, industry, and academia, experienced and novice.

“The young scientists are the unsung heroes,” Williams said. “They are going to push this research into the next area of discovery.”

What SOFI founders recognized, just one year ago at a TSRC workshop, was a fundamental gap between basic research and market-ready technology. Numerous scientists were invested in devising more sustainable and efficient solar fuels, however their innovations only went as far as the lab.

“SOFI aims to bridge this gap by identifying technologies ripe for social impact and commercial development, and creating a unique, collaborative way to get them to the market,” explained Jonathan Schneider, a SOFI founder and Co-managing Director of Strategy and Policy.

SOFI is currently focused on two nascent technologies: carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction to carbon monoxide (CO) and water splitting to produce hydrogen gas (H2). Unlike photovoltaic (or solar) cells, which require batteries and the shining sun, solar fuels can be piped, stored, and shipped to refineries to generate transport fuel, electricity, and consumables.

“This is a non-intermittent fuel that could fit seamlessly into our established petroleum infrastructure,” said Schneider.

The environmental implications are also significant.

Solar fuels do not emit greenhouse gases or hydrocarbons. In fact, they remove or “scrub,” CO2, earth’s longest-lived and most abundant greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere.

“Imagine a factory that produces fuel from air and sun, leaving no carbon footprint,” said Co.

“Environmentally, solar fuels present a very compelling case,” agreed Schneider.

In addition to the technology, SOFI is cognizant of disseminating scientific data, uncensored and in real-time.

“We want to modernize academic and national labs; get away from the notion that whatever is not published, dies,” said Co.

SOFI is building a “knowledge map,” an online repository for scientists to log data and share ideas.

Supplying non-intermittent, sustainable, clean energy in a society dependent on fossil fuels is clearly a global challenge, but it has a global solution. At Tuesday’s TSRC Town Talk, SOFI founders will elaborate on the solution, as well as challenges and future directions of the solar fuel endeavor.

For more information about TSRC, visit telluridescience.org.