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Berkeley Lab Helios Project In the last 100 years, the Earth warmed up by ~1°C Temperature over the last 420,000 years Consumption of Energy Increased by 85% between 1970 and 1999 Quadrillion Btu By 2020, Consumption will Triple 700 History Projections 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2005 2010 2015 2020 Global energy consumption (1998) 5 4.52 4 2.7 3 2.96 TW 2 1.21 0.828 1 0.286 0.286 0 Oil Gas Total: 12.8 TW Coal Nuclear Hydro Biomass Renewable U.S.: 3.3 TW (99 Quads) Helios Solve the challenge of efficiently generating chemical fuel at low cost using solar energy Photosynthesis cheap but inefficient Solar Driven Electrolysis efficient but expensive Berkeley Lab Broad-based Energy Strategy Fusion Carbon sequestration Energy Efficiency geothermal Helios Computation and Modeling Fossil recovery Helios Nanoscience Carbon dioxide Biology methanol ethanol hydrogen hydrocarbons Water Helios Plants Cellulose Cellulose-degrading microbes Engineered photosynthetic microbes and plants Artificial Photosynthesis PV Electricity Methanol Ethanol Hydrogen Hydrocarbons Electrochemistry The Target Light-to-Fuel at 10% Power Efficiency $ 3/GJ (= Gasoline at $0.4/ Gallon) Carbon Neutral Manufacturable and Sustainable Storable and Transportable Fuel (energy density Spec.) Energy Density Spec. Energy Density sorted by Wh/l Material Volumetric Gravimetric Diesel 10,942Wh/l 13762Wh/kg Gasoline 9,700 Wh/l 12,200 Wh/kg LNG 7,216 Wh/l 12,100 Wh/kg Propane 6,600 Wh/l 13,900 Wh/kg Ethanol 6,100 Wh/l 7,850 Wh/kg Methanol 4,600 Wh/l 6,400 Wh/kg Liquid H2 2,600 Wh/l 39,000* Wh/kg Some benchmarks to consider Biomass-to-fuel: From ~0.35% to 3.6% – At 3.6% efficiency, 100M acres of arable land (25% of total currently farmed land) will supply all fuel for transportation based on current fuel efficiency. Light-to-electricity: 20% efficiency at mass production, $0.02/KWh Electricity-to-chemical storage: – Presently at most 50% energy efficient; over-voltage to drive rates – Water to hydrogen 4 electrons; CO2 to methanol six electrons Direct solar-to-fuel – Sunlight oxidizing water: 1.23 volts – Overall Power Efficiency Requirement: 10% Fuel interconversion: – 95% selective – Greater than10,000 turnovers/sec/site Combine Nanoscience and Biological Research at LBNL 10 nm Scale of the Helios problem requires breaking down the stovepipes EETD Chemical Foundry ALS Science Nanoscience Synthetic Biology NERSC JGI Earth Science NCEM Microbial production of fuels Energy sources Platforms Fuels Syngas (CO + H2) Alkanes Archae (methanogen) Alcohols Sunlight + CO2 Synechocystis Cellulose Starch Hydrogen E. coli Yeast Microbial fuels Energy production – Production of hydrogen or ethanol – Efficient conversion of waste into energy – Conversion of sunlight into hydrogen Lignocellulose Nearly universal component of biomass Consists of three types of polymers: – Cellulose – Hemicellulose – Lignin All three are degraded by bacteria and fungi Component Cellulose Hemicellulose Lignin Percent Dry Weight 40-60% 20-40% 10-25% Lignocellulose Cellulose harvesting http://www.bio.umass.edu/micro/images/facbios/leschine2.jpg Cellulose to Fuel Improve upon the microbial degradation of lignocellulosic materials Catalysts robust enzymes artificial catalysts Better microbes selectivity rates reduced toxicity Separations Extract ethanol from water Tractable cellulose decrease crystallinity decrease lignin Some “natural” biofuels Botryococcus braunii Challenges: To understand the mechanisms (genes and enzymes) of hydrocarbon synthesis in natural organisms build entirely new pathways Direct Solar to Fuel •Linked light absorption charge transfer catalyst units •Biomimetic assembly •Integration Into a range of “membranes” ASU Design of catalytic active sites Biomimetic active site design --embedded in 3D nanostructure for product separation on the nanoscale Novel Catalytic Microenvironments Organic dendrimers inorganic dendrimers and micelles Inorganic channels •control fluctuations •control “flow” of reactants and products PNNL Helios metrics for success The goal of Helios is to provide a significant breakthrough within ten years Science and technology trajectory analysis: Fuels Identify key decision points Address showstoppers as quickly as possible Bi-annual international workshops to assess progress Annual plan Milestones and goals for ensuing three years Semi-annual reporting Annual Helios retreat/review with external reviewers Berkeley Lab Helios Project Further Information: Elaine Chandler, [email protected] 510 486-6854