Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
Carbon Dioxide, as is fortuitously co-produced by our essential use of Coal in the generation of truly abundant and truly affordable electric power, is a valuable, maybe even a precious, raw material resource.
We can reclaim Carbon Dioxide from whatever source most convenient to us, whether the flue gases of power plants fired by Coal or even the atmosphere itself, and, then, convert that Carbon Dioxide, using freely available environmental energies to drive the processes, into any and all sorts of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
That fact, as we've documented, for a few examples, in our reports of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Reaffirms CO2 to Gasoline Technical Viability | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20130281553 - Method of Producing Synthetic Fuels and Organic Chemicals from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide; Date: October 24, 2013; Inventors: William Kubic and Jeffrey Martin, Los Alamos, NM; Assignee: Los Alamos National Security, LLC, NM; Abstract: The present invention is directed to providing a method of producing synthetic fuels and organic chemicals from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gas is extracted from the atmosphere, hydrogen gas is obtained by splitting water, a mixture of the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas (synthesis gas) is generated, and the synthesis gas is converted into synthetic fuels and/or organic products"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Sunlight Converts CO2 into Methane | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20130079577 - Synthesis of Photocatalysts for Solar Fuel Generation; 2013; Inventor: Brian Ingram, et. al., IL and TN; Assignee: UChicago Argonne, LLC, Chicago; In one preferred embodiment, a photocatalyst for conversion of carbon dioxide and water to a hydrocarbon and oxygen (as described). Government Interests: The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between the United States Government and UChicago Argonne, LLC representing Argonne National Laboratory"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | CoalTL: USDOE Hires California to Convert CO2 into Hydrocarbon Fuels | Research & Development; concerning; "United States Patent Application 20120328505 - Nanostructured Transition Metal Oxides Useful for Water Oxidation Catalysis; 2012; Assignee: The Regents of the University of California; Abstract: The present invention provides for a composition comprising a nanostructured transition metal oxide capable of oxidizing two H2O molecules ... . Government Interests: The invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention. Claims: A composition comprising a nanostructured transition metal oxide (and) wherein the composition catalyzes the reaction: "CO2 + H2O = CH3OH (Methanol) + O2 (under) visible light";
has been and is being soundly confirmed by our own United States Department of Energy and it's contracted researchers. And, those technologies seem to have emerged from formal development programs, about which we've reported a number of times, such as 'Green Freedom (TM)":
Synthetic fuel concept to steal CO2 from air; http://www.lanl.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2008/February/02.12.synthetic-fuel.php; "'Green Freedom (TM) for carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuel and chemical production'. LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, February 12, 2008—Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a low-risk, transformational concept, called Green Freedom™, for large-scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and organic chemicals from air and water. Currently, the principal market for the Green Freedom production concept is fuel for vehicles and aircraft. At the heart of the technology is a new process for extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and making it available for fuel production using a new form of electrochemical separation. By integrating this electrochemical process with existing technology, researchers have developed a new, practical approach to producing fuels and organic chemicals that permits continued use of existing industrial and transportation infrastructure. Fuel production is driven by carbon-neutral power. “Our concept enhances U.S. energy and material security by reducing dependence on imported oil. Initial system and economic analyses indicate that the prices of Green Freedom commodities would be either comparable to the current market or competitive with those of other carbon-neutral, alternative technologies currently being considered,” said F. Jeffrey Martin of the Laboratory’s Decisions Applications Division, principal investigator on the project. In addition to the new electrochemical separation process, the Green Freedom system can use existing cooling towers ... with carbon-capture equipment that eliminates the need for additional structures to process large volumes of air. The primary environmental impact of the production facility is limited to the footprint of the plant. It uses non-hazardous materials for its feed and operation and has a small waste stream volume. In addition, unlike large-scale biofuel concepts, the Green Freedom system does not add pressure to agricultural capacity or use large tracts of land or farming resources for production. The concept’s viability has been reviewed and verified by both industrial and semi-independent Los Alamos National Laboratory technical reviews. The next phase will demonstrate the new electrochemical process to prove the ability of the system to both capture carbon dioxide and pull it back out of solution. An industrial partnership consortium will be formed to commercialize the Green Freedom concept".We included the above separate link and excerpts since there seems to have been some effort made to erase evidence of the "Green Freedom (TM)" program from our USDOE's western US National Laboratories' web site records; and, the links we included to those records of Green Freedom (TM) in those of our prior reports concerning it, as those reports are accessible on the West Virginia Coal Association's web site, no longer function.
And, in any case, "Green Freedom (TM)" seems to have been supplanted by the USDOE's later "Sunshine To Petrol" effort, as described in:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Solar Thermochemical CO2-to-Fuel | Research & Development; concerning the United States Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory report: "Solar Fuel Production Through The Thermochemical Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide; Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM USA; Abstract: Solar energy systems based on an intermittent resource benefit from an energy storage mechanism that decouples the solar resource from the load, enabling operation when the resource is unavailable. ... Storing solar energy in the form of chemical fuels offers another more energy dense storage mechanism that enables the utilization of solar energy to address the energy needs of the transportation sector. Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems are capable of operating at the elevated temperatures needed to drive thermochemical reactions that convert the stable combustion products, carbon dioxide and water, first into synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and then into liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol, gasoline, and jet fuel. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a process called Sunshine to Petrol, or S2P, in which a two-step thermochemical cycle is used to produce synthesis gas via H2O and/or CO2 decomposition that may then be converted into a liquid hydrocarbon fuel".And, the USDOE's current efforts directed to the productive recycling of Carbon Dioxide are likely founded on, or inspired by, earlier developments undertaken both by the USDOE, as reported for one example in:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Hydrocarbon Syngas from CO2 and H2O | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,313,925 - Thermochemical Cyclic System for Decomposing H2O and/or CO2 by Means of Cerium-Titanium-Sodium-Oxygen Compounds; 1982; Inventor: Carlos Bamberger, Oak Ridge, TN; Assignee: The USA as Represented by the USDOE; Abstract: A thermochemical closed cyclic process for the decomposition of water and/or carbon dioxide to hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide";
and, by private industry, as seen in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Big Oil CO2 to Methanol Photosynthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,427,508 - Light Driven Photocatalytic Process; 1984; Assignee: Atlantic Richfield Company, CA; Abstract: A method for the light driven photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide or the bicarbonate ion to one or more compounds which comprises contacting silicon with the carbon dioxide and/or bicarbonate ion in the absence of separate physical electrolyte and electrodes, and conducting said contacting in the presence of light. Claims: A method for the light driven photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (to other compounds, and, wherein) the energy of reduction is essentially supplied by ... light (and) wherein said light is one of artificial light, sunlight, or a combination thereof. (Compounds produced)are carbon monoxide, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, esters, and carboxylic acids having from 1 to 2 carbon atoms per molecule (and include) carbon monoxide, methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, and methane. The ... hydrogen containing material is water".All of that, coupled with later developments in academia, like that, for one example, which culminated in:
West Virginia Coal Association | New York City CO2 to Methane via Artificial Photosynthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20120208903 - Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methane Using Visible Light; 2012; Assignee: Research Foundation of City University of New York, NYC; Abstract: The invention relates to a method for converting carbon dioxide to methane. The method comprises exposing carbon dioxide adsorbed on a nanoporous silicate matrix to light in the presence of a source of carbon dioxide and a source of hydrogen for a time and under conditions sufficient to convert carbon dioxide to methane";led the USDOE to establish, in concert with a number of California universities and other organizations, the "Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis", as excerpted from the initial and following links in this dispatch:
http://solarfuelshub.org/
"The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) is the nation's largest research program dedicated to the development of an artificial solar-fuel generation technology. Established in 2010 as a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub, JCAP aims to find a cost-effective method to produce fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs."
Note that we're including multiple links to JCAP, which should take you to various points of interest within the web site. We do so because of continued problems we've had on our end transmitting functional links. One of them at least should survive our tender care and get you to the site.
More about it can be learned via:
http://science.energy.gov/~/media/bes/pdf/hubs/jcap_fact_sheet.pdf; "The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Innovation Hub for Fuels from Sunlight. The Center is located in two California-based sites, operated under a unified management structure. The Southern California site is on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, California and the Northern California site is at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Award Amount: $122 million over five years, subject to Congressional appropriations. Motivation: Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels, as plants do, by combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, would be a transformational advance in carbon-neutral energy technology. Mission: JCAP will develop and demonstrate a manufacturable solar-fuels generator, made of Earth-abundant elements, that will take sunlight, water and carbon dioxide as inputs, and robustly produce fuel from the sun 10 times more efficiently than typical current crops. Members:JCAP partners include the California Institute of Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego. ... JCAP will accelerate the rate of discovery of Earth-abundant, robust materials that can capture and convert the energy of sunlight into chemical fuels. JCAP will dramatically expand the range of available light absorbers, catalysts, membranes, and system components for creating a fully non-biological photosynthetic system. Science-Based Scale-Up: JCAP will develop the scientific understanding and capabilities for linking together nano-scale objects, including light absorbers, catalysts, and membrane units, to form fully functional artificial photosynthetic units. JCAP will then assemble these units into systems that function on increasingly larger length scales, to ultimately produce true artificial photosynthetic solar fuels generators that operate at moderate temperatures and remain functional for extended periods of time."
Through the above links, it can also be learned, that:
"
The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) is the nation’s largest research program dedicated to the development of an artificial solar-fuel generation technology. Established in 2010 as a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub, JCAP aims to find a cost-effective method to produce fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs. JCAP is led by a team from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and brings together more than 120 world-class scientists and engineers from Caltech and its lead partner, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. JCAP also draws on the expertise and capabilities of key partners from Stanford University, the University of California campuses at Berkeley (UCB), Irvine (UCI), and San Diego (UCSD), and the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). In addition, JCAP serves as a central hub for other solar fuels research teams across the United States, including 20 DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers".
And, to repeat some info from the above links and excerpts: The official, US Government-mandated mission of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis is: "to develop a manufacturable solar-fuels generator, made of Earth-abundant elements, that will use only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs and robustly produce fuel from the sun ten times more efficiently than current crops. Such an achievement would minimize trade-offs between food and fuel, would allow for installation of the systems in a diverse range of sites and environments, and would provide the direct production of a useful chemical fuel from the sun". Further, the "Sun produces enough energy in one hour to power all human activity on Earth for a full year ... . The design of highly efficient, non‐biological, molecular‐level energy conversion “machines” that generate fuels directly from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide is both a formidable challenge and an opportunity that, if realized, could have a revolutionary impact on our energy system. ... JCAP seeks to discover new ways to produce energy-dense fuels, such as hydrogen and carbon-based fuels, using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs. Artificial photosynthesis, once achieved and scaled up, could be significantly more efficient than biofuel production processes and would not require arable land, agricultural feedstock, or substantial inputs of energy or water. Success could ultimately drive commercial development of solar-fuel systems designed from inception to be easily deployable almost anywhere".
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We're closing this over-long presentation with what we take to be a "promotional" brochure concerning the USDOE's, and associated California institutions', i.e., the "JCAP's", artificial photosynthesis program, a file of which will be transmitted to the West Virginia Coal Association:
http://solarfuelshub.org/
"A Powerful Option in Plain Sight
Inspired by photosynthesis, scientists aim to invent materials that can produce fuels from sunlight, water, and CO2.
A leaf isn't just beautiful - it is also a powerhouse. With only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs, leaves produce fuel for plants via the process known as photosynthesis. Fossil fuels - derived from
ancient decayed organic matter - and biofuels draw on energy converted by this process. But leaves point the way to another option: We could gain greater energy independence if we could develop a fully artificial version of photosynthesis that produces fuels directly from sunlight, as leaves do. Solar fuels could become abundant, sustainable successors to petroleum-based fuels.
With the United States as a pioneering investor, research into artificial photosynthesis has made steady progress. Now, remarkable breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology have created opportunities to accelerate that progress.
By establishing the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has taken a key step to push direct solar fuels toward commercial viability. JCAP researchers
are working to make artificial photosynthesis efficient, inexpensive,and robust. JCAP will complete critical research and development and integrate the U.S. solar fuels effort to accelerate the delivery of this
potentially transformational technology.
Today, JCAP is seeking new ways to produce carbon-neutral transportation fuels, including hydrogen, methanol, and fuels with high energy density for aircraft and other specialized vehicles, using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs. Artificial photosynthesis, once achieved and scaled up, could be significantly more efficient than biofuel production processes, and would not require arable land, agricultural feedstock, or substantial inputs of energy or water.
Success could ultimately drive commercial development of solar-fuel systems designed from inception to be easily deployable almost anywhere.
(The above statement is important. The technologies under development would enable implementation just about anywhere in the country. And, although we suspect the residents of often-cloudy US Coal Country would be content with buying gasoline from their friendly fellow citizens in Florida, as opposed to the less-than-loved sheiks of OPEC, and be freed from the threat of onerous Cap & Trade carbon taxes in the bargain, keep in mind that some of the CO2-recycling technologies under development by the JCAP are "electrochemical" in nature. And, just as in the US Navy's CO2-recycling technologies, i.e., for one example:
West Virginia Coal Association | US Navy 2008 CO2 to Synfuel | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,420,004 - Producing Synthetic Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels; 2008; Assignee: The USA, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A process for producing synthetic hydrocarbons that reacts carbon dioxide, obtained from seawater or air, and hydrogen obtained from water, with a catalyst in a chemical process such as reverse water gas shift combined with Fischer Tropsch synthesis. The hydrogen is produced by ... ocean thermal energy conversion, or any other source that is fossil fuel-free, such as wind or wave energy. The process can be either land based or sea based";
reactions and processes which convert CO2 and H2O into hydrocarbon fuels can in fact be driven by virtually any source of environmental energy, that is, by any "source that is fossil-fuel free".)
Fueling the Future: 'We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo projects of our time. . . . At the California Institute of Technology, they're developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. . . . We need to get behind this innovation.' - President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, January 26, 2011."
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Now, we know that, in US Coal Country at least, President Obama, like OPEC, might be somewhat less-than-loved. But, keep in mind, as has never, as far as we here know, been reported by the Coal Country press, but, as we have documented several times, and as can be learned separately via:
Text of S. 155 (110th): Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 (Introduced version) - GovTrack.us;
President Obama, while still a United States Senator from Illinois, served as co-sponsor of two pieces of legislation:
Senate Bill 3325, in the 109th Congress, "The Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2006", and:
Senate Bill 155, in the 110th Congress, "The Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007";
which are exactly what they sound like: Laws which would, if opponents hadn't buried them "in committee", have fostered the growth of an industry in the United States, like those now flourishing in South Africa and China, which would convert abundant domestic US Coal into any and all of the liquid petroleum products we now squander our national wealth to buy from the alien nations of OPEC.
Well, we don't now have to use our precious Coal to free ourselves from OPEC bondage. We can continue to use Coal in it's essential role of generating truly abundant and truly affordable electric power, since we now have another "Powerful Option in Plain Sight" for establishing a domestic United States independence in the supply of hydrocarbon fuels:
Carbon Dioxide.
Far past time our Coal Country press corps put on their bifocals, so that they could see those options, those options sitting there "in Plain Sight", and then openly and publicly presented those options to us, ain't it?