Artificial Photosynthesis: Progress and Prospects

The fifth international ECS Electrochemical Energy Summit (E2S) will take place October 12-14, 2015 during the 228th ECS Meeting. This year’s program will be focused around solar critical issues and renewable energy. One of the invited talks is from the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).

JCAP is pioneering revolutionary methods of synthesizing transportation fuels simply by combining three of Earth’s most abundant resources: carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.

The goal is to generate liquid hydrocarbon or alcohol fuel products whose heating value equals or exceeds that of methanol, using selective and efficient chemical pathways.

Achieving a Technological Breakthrough

Any technological breakthrough of this sort requires multiple simultaneous advances in mechanisms, materials, and components—from novel catalysts and protection coatings to concepts for self-sustaining integrated systems—and JCAP, under its five-year renewal project, will continue to act as a hub for accelerated discovery and integration of these developments.

The project’s first two years will focus on an accelerated campaign of discovery and development, while years three to five will see a ramped-up emphasis on the integration of JCAP’s materials, catalytic mechanisms, and testbeds with advances made by JCAP, in close consultation and collaboration with the broader scientific community and industry.

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