Liquid Fuel Carrier Research and Development
Liquid Fuel Carrier Research and Development
This research project seeks to develop a novel technology for conversion of solar energy to hydrogen and hydrogen carrier fuels, with both solar heat and solar PV electricity used to drive a solid oxide electrolyser device to produce hydrogen and syngas (which then can be converted onsite into transportable liquid fuels).
| Lead participants:
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) |
Classification:
Research and development
|
Status:
In progress |
Estimated cost:
AUD$2.51 million |
| Research partners:
RayGen Resources, ADME Fuels Ltd., Ben Gurion University at Negev (Israel), Johnson Matthey (UK) and Northwestern University (USA) |
Main supply chain category:
Hydrogen carrier |
Location:
Victoria, Australia |
Announced funding:
AUD$1.01 million – Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) |
Research description
This research project seeks to develop a novel technology for the conversion of solar energy to hydrogen and hydrogen carrier fuels.
Solar heat and solar PV electricity would be used to drive a solid oxide electrolyser device to produce hydrogen and syngas, which then can be converted onsite into transportable liquid fuels, enabling large-scale energy export and storage.
A key advantage of solid oxide electrolysis over the established hydrogen production technologies lies in lower electricity requirements.
The research aims to develop a ‘proof of concept’ solar-powered solid oxide electrolyser with novel materials for lower-cost hydrogen or syngas production at high efficiencies. The scope of work also includes the development of the matched catalytic process to synthesise transportable liquid fuels. The research involves the collaboration of several research and industrial bodies from four countries led by CSIRO.
The process would use waste CO2 emitted from numerous industrial processes to produce premium fuels for energy export. It is projected that up to eight tons of carbon dioxide could be saved from emission every hour for a 70 megawatt (MW) scale plant.
More details on the research, including contact information, can be found at the ARENA webpage for this project.
This research project was part of a suite of projects for which ARENA announced AUD$22.1 million of funding in September 2018.
This description was reviewed by the lead research participant in July 2020.