Making Fuel While the Sun Shines

This article discusses the potential use of solar energy in various industrial processes. Solar energy is usually considered in terms of making electricity, but it also has the potential to replace fossil fuels in the production of liquid fuels, and in driving endothermic industrial processes. Solar thermochemical processes are feasible, and a solar power concentration process that harnesses sunlight's infrared energy is the best-suited technology for making solar fuels a reality. However, in spite of their appeal, solar thermochemical processes also have the same drawback that direct solar power has: the transient and diurnal nature of sunshine. Fluctuations of available solar radiation – over the course of a day, across different types of weather, and from season to season – present considerable challenges for potential solar-thermal systems. While there are economically affordable and commercially available solutions to some of those problems, substantial research and development is still required.