Solar photochemistry -- Twenty years of progress, what`s been accomplished, and where does it lead?
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States). Industrial Technologies Division
It has been more than 20 years since the first oil embargo. That event created an awareness of the need for alternative sources of energy and renewed interest in combining sunlight and chemistry to produce the chemicals and materials required by industry. This paper will review approaches that have been taken, progress that has been made, and give some projections for the near and longer term prospects for commercialization of solar photochemistry. The following conclusions can be made about the commercialization of solar photochemistry: (1) Solar photochemistry for production of fuels and commodity chemicals is in the realm of long-term research and development. (2) In the nearer term there will be opportunities in the synthesis of smaller production level compounds by abiotic solar photochemical methods, but solar will be at a disadvantage relative to artificial sources because of the intermittent nature of sunlight and the current availability of photoreactors designed for lamps. (3) The use of photosynthetic organisms to produce chemicals will provide the most likely avenue to expanding the use of solar technology in the near term.
- OSTI ID:
- 110098
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950336-; ISBN 0-7918-1300-2; TRN: IM9543%%400
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Society of Mechanical Engineers/Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers/Japan Solar Energy Society international solar energy conference, Lahaina, HI (United States), 19-24 Mar 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Solar engineering 1995: Proceedings. Volume 1; Stine, W.B. [ed.] [California Polytechnic Univ., Pomona, CA (United States)]; Tanaka, Tadayoshi [ed.] [Electrotechnical Lab., Ibaraki (Japan)]; Claridge, D.E. [ed.] [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)]; PB: 746 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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