Solar-powered transportation? That’s the future that awaits us. We are witnessing the dawn of the future of transportation.
Businesses are determined to move towards sustainable energy and Spain is about to become home to the world’s largest solar fuel installation. This is a truly ambitious project led by Swiss green technology pioneer Synhelion, which is advancing the much-needed path of decarbonising transport fuels, especially in energy-intensive environments such as aviation or maritime transport.
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A sustainable future powered by the Sun
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The world is increasingly aware of the need to implement renewable energy solutions, but these large industries are leading the way when it comes to consuming unclean fuel. How can these sectors be steered towards a sustainable future? Synhelion has a very clear idea: with solar fuels.
Solar
powered fuels are emerging as a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Unlike familiar photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity , they harness solar energy to produce liquid hydrocarbons that can be seamlessly integrated into existing fuel infrastructure. This aspect is particularly important for sectors such as long-distance aviation and maritime transport because of their high energy density requirements.
This is a fairly new and interesting concept that involves concentrating solar energy to create high temperatures, which then drive chemical reactions that convert basic carbon sources such as carbon dioxide and water into synthetic fuels, potentially significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions (the main greenhouse gases are: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
According to the World Resources Institute
within the energy sector, heat and electricity generation is the subsector responsible for the largest share of emissions, followed by transport and the manufacturing and construction industries.
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The installation in Spain
Now, at the heart of this revolutionary development that aims to change the future of transportation is Synhelion’s upcoming facility in Spain, called the RISE plant , which is scheduled to be operational in 2027. This facility will dwarf existing solar fuel plants in both scale and capacity; it will be the largest in the world. With a production target of 1,000 tons of fuel per year, the RISE plant will be ten times larger than the company’s DAWN plant in Germany, which is pioneering the industrial-scale production of solar fuels.
Why build it in Spain? It’s no coincidence.
Our country has abundant sunlight and ample space, both critical factors for the success of a plant of this nature. RISE will use large fields of mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a central tower, creating the conditions necessary for the chemical reactions that produce solar fuels. But it’s not going to be an easy road. The company itself has acknowledged the complexities involved in scaling its technology to another country while maintaining efficiency and profitability. But its goal is to demonstrate the viability and scalability of solar fuels and pave the way for their widespread adoption around the world.
One of the key technological innovations
that will support the RISE plant in Spain will be a robust thermal energy storage system . This system will store excess solar heat during the day, which is expected to be quite a lot, allowing for continued fuel production even when the sun is not shining in the sky, there are storms, or there are many dark clouds. This ability to store excess daily heat will be vital to maintaining stable operations and containing production costs at a level competitive with traditional fossil fuels.
Imagine a future
where solar fuels make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions, especially in sectors as polluting as those mentioned above. We are one step closer.
The Swiss company’s long
term plans also include transitioning from a fuel producer to a technology provider, licensing its solar fuel technology to major oil and gas companies around the world, with the intention of accelerating the global implementation of this sustainable solution as a global tool to combat climate change that affects us all.
