CO2 to Fuel Company Starts Work on World's First Solar Fuel Plant

Switzerland-headquartered company Synhelion has begun construction of DAWN, the world's first industrial-scale factory to create carbon neutral fuels by using solar energy.

The process uses the power of the sun to decarbonize transportation. Synhelion aims to produce solar jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline, to directly replace fossil fuels in vehicles. These sustainable solar fuels are carbon-neutral as they only emit as much CO2 as went into their production. They are fully compatible with existing global fuel infrastructure and the company claims they will be the most economically viable, efficient, scalable, and environmentally friendly solution for clean, long-distance transportation.

Synelion plans to use the technology to reduce CO2 emissions in various transportation sectors. The current focus is on aviation and long-distance transportation that cannot be electrified. The industrial process could also be used for the decarbonization of industries that require high-temperatures such as cement manufacturing.

The company powers its projects with solar because it is the cheapest renewable energy. It’s the most useful source of energy and, of course, available everywhere. To turn sunlight into fuel, Synhelion have developed four innovation fronts: heliostats, a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor, and thermal energy storage.

Synhelion’s technique involves using concentrated solar power (CSP) arrays, then deploying the heat – in excess of 1500°C – to create syngas, which can in turn be used to create synthetic fuels such as kerosene (jet fuel) or gasoline.

“When you burn a fuel, you basically have the production of heat and water and carbon dioxide,” says Dr Gianluca Ambrosetti, CEO and co-founder of Synhelion, “Basically, what we do is look at processes that reverse that, and the most straightforward way is to take CO2, water vapor and use heat to try and reverse that process.”

The company started work in 2016. Recently it has claimed that it has made significant technical progress, so it is now starting work on an industrial-scale plant to bring solar fuels to the marketplace: DAWN.

The plant features a 20-meter-high solar tower with a heliostat field with a total mirror surface of 1,500 m2. The solar tower uses three innovations created by Synhelion: a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor, and thermal energy storage that is claimed to enable cost-efficient operation in both day and night. Synhelion says each year the industrial demonstration facility will produce several thousands of liters of synthetic fuel.

“The plant will demonstrate that solar fuels are not just a theoretical construct but will soon actively contribute to decarbonizing aviation and long-distance transportation,”says Patrick Hilger, Synhelion Germany's managing director. The drawbacks are that the fuel is complex to produce, and therefore will be expensive, unless it can be scaled up to lower costs.

DAWN will be built in an industrial park in Germany, which already serves as the location for Synhelion Germany, as well as being home to its project partners including the German Aerospace Center (DLR), as well as the Solar Institute Jülich of Aachen University of Applied Sciences. The plan is that airline Swiss International, will initiate air transport using Synhelion’s solar jet aviation fuel. Though the amount of production at DAWN will be quite small, it will serve as a pilot project for future solar plants. The company estimates that a similar facility in a particularly sunny location could produce around 150,000 liters (40 million gallons) of solar fuel per year.

“With DAWN we are laying the foundation for the industrial production of solar fuels,” Dr Ambrosetti continues, “The experience we gain will benefit us in the construction of many more and larger plants.” Synhelion's goal is to reach a production capacity of 230 million gallons of fuel per year in future commercial developments by 2030.

This technology seems promising and if it succeeds, could be another part of our journey to net zero and preserving the atmosphere from heating up.