A consortium of academic, governmental, and industry organisations emerged to help bring the conversion of carbon dioxide waste into diesel fuel via concentrated solar energy into reality.
The alliance, which aims to promote and commercial technologies that will move the process along, includes Renewable Energy Institute International (REII), Pacific Renewable Fuels, Quanta Services, Clean Energy Systems, Desert Research Institute, and Sandia National Laboratories. Commercial partners have also joined to further technology in existing commercial plants.
At present, overall carbon dioxide emissions in the US have risen 17 per cent from levels in 1990. If left to grow further, analysts predict it will continue at a rate of one per cent per year. As climate change conferences across the global begin to put pressure on the US, the nation has set targets aimed at reducing 1990 emission levels by 2020.
The new technology will be constructed next to facilities such as coal power plants, which put out waste CO2 streams. Other facilities set to receive the technology will include natural gas processing plants, cement production plants, and ethanol plants.
President of REII, Dennis Shuetzle said that team members of the alliance are adamant that the most effective way to reduce CO2 emissions and reach 2020 targets is by commercialising available technology that uses CO2 to produce valuable resources such as fuel. Americans consume nearly 60 billions of diesel fuel each year, most of which comes from imported oil. By domestically producing diesel fuel, the US can improve its energy security as well as reduce carbon waste.
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