Solar panels turn carbon dioxide into alternative fuel

Scientists have devised an efficient method for harnessing sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into a potential alternative fuel known as formic acid.
The transformation from carbon dioxide and water to formic acid was powered by a commercial solar panel.
The process takes place inside an electrochemical cell, which consists of metal plates the size of rectangular lunch-boxes that enclose liquid-carrying channels.
To maximise the efficiency of the system, the amount of power produced by the solar panel must match the amount of power the electrochemical cell can handle, said Andrew Bocarsly, a Princeton University professor, who collaborated with researchers at start-up company Liquid Light Inc, New Jersey, to devise the method.

This optimisation process is called impedance matching. By stacking three electrochemical cells together, the research team was able to reach almost 2 per cent energy efficiency, which is twice the efficiency of natural photosynthesis.
It is also the best energy efficiency reported to date using a man-made device.

A number of energy companies are interested in storing solar energy as formic acid in fuel cells.
Additionally, formate salt - readily made from formic acid - is the preferred de-icing agent on airplane runways because it is less corrosive to planes and safer for the environment than chloride salts.
With increased availability, formate salts could supplant more harmful salts in widespread use.

Using waste carbon dioxide and easily obtained machined parts, this approach offers a promising route to a renewable fuel, Bocarsly said.
The study was published in the Journal of CO2 Utilisation.