Jun 7 2010
The United States has seen an increase of 17% of CO2 emissions in the last two decades and if left unchecked, the emission rate will further increase drastically. To tackle this condition, a group of government, industry and academic organizations has been formed with an aim to use concentrated solar energy for converting carbon-di-oxide into diesel fuel.
The members in the alliance include Quanta Services, Desert Research Institute, Renewable Energy Institute International (REII), Pacific Renewable Fuels and Sandia National Laboratories. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has granted the first phase of funding to project team members.
The developed solar technology platform will be placed near industries, such as cement production facilities, coal power plants and others, which produce waste CO2 streams. At present, an estimated 60 billion gallons of diesel is being consumed by the United States each year and imported oil is predominantly used in manufacturing diesel. Domestic production of diesel will help United States in not only improving energy security but also in using waste carbon dioxide.
Demonstrations of the proposed project are currently taking place in Sacramento and Bakersfield in California as well as Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. By 2013, the team expects to launch its first commercial plant.
Ellen Stechel, development lead from Sandia National Laboratories, says that her lab has been involved in the development of solar reforming technologies for the past 20 years. She added that this partnership would help the organization achieve the dual goals of producing domestic fuel and reducing carbon emissions.