a new direction for solar fuels science

The sun is the earth’s most abundant energy resource. One of the largest challenges facing the world today is how to harness the energy of the sun to generate energy-rich fuels for a sustainable future. 

Inspired by photosynthesis in plants, scientists are designing materials and chemical processes that can convert sunlight into chemical energy using only components of air: water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. Directly producing liquid fuels from these abundant feedstocks would provide an efficient way to store and dispatch solar energy on a pathway to energy independence.

The Liquid Sunlight Alliance will establish the science principles by which durable coupled microenvironments can be co-designed to efficiently and selectively generate liquid fuels from sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. Founded in 2020, LiSA is one of two projects in the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. 

Transformative Impacts and Expected Outcomes

• A new co-design of ‘assembly-of-microenvironments’ science paradigm for generation of liquid solar fuels with unprecedented selectivity, durability, and efficiency

• The science foundations for direct solar-driven synthesis of multi-carbon products from pure and impure feedstocks

• Discovery of innovative light-driven phenomena in chemically complex environments

• A new predictive science of materials durability and active repair in electrochemical systems

• A national alliance for solar fuels science spanning academic, national labs and industry sectors, creating a platform for next-generation solar fuels technologies