New and Renewable Solar Routes to Hydrogen Energy

联合王国与国际社会一道，深刻认识到不可持续地使用化石燃料所带来的问题，并越来越重视利用可再生能源开发零碳排放燃料，特别是氢燃料。在所考虑的可再生能源中，太阳能是最丰富的，如果得到有效利用，能够满足可预见的未来的全球能源需求。据估计，入射到地球上的太阳能功率为178，000 TW，比2000年的全球总功率需求（或燃烧速率）（13 TW）大约大13，500倍，比最近预测的2020年的功率需求（28 TW）大6400倍。许多太阳能研究集中在其在光伏装置中直接转换为电，或在太阳能热装置中直接转换为热。所有这些“传统”路线的一个主要障碍是其高昂的成本。在这里，我们建议利用低温天然生物和光催化过程来开发替代的，具有成本效益的，用于收集太阳能直接生产可再生氢燃料的方法，并探索如何将这些方法嵌入到新型的综合能源生产系统中，结合了燃料电池和氢储存技术。这些太阳能的成功放大-驱动的可再生制氢工艺将改变无碳燃料的供应，并对氢作为能源载体的可行性产生巨大影响。它将把以无碳、可再生的方式生产氢气的潜力转化为现实，是充分利用燃料电池技术的重要一步。它将使英国成为世界领导者，成为真正可持续能源未来的少数解决方案之一。因此，其影响是广泛的，包括科学、技术和商业方面。

The UK, together with the international community, is acutely aware of the problems arising from the unsustainable use of fossil fuels, and is increasingly focusing on the development of zero-carbon emission fuels, particularly hydrogen, using renewable energy sources. Of the renewable energy sources under consideration, solar energy is the most abundant and, if harvested efficiently, is capable of meeting global energy needs for the foreseeable future. It is estimated that solar power incident on the earth is 178,000 TW, approximately 13,500 times greater than the total global power demand (or burn rate) in 2000 (13 TW) and 6400 times greater than recent forecasts of the power demand for 2020 (28 TW). Much solar energy research is focused on its direct conversion to electricity in photovoltaic devices, or on its direct conversion to heat in solar thermal devices. A major barrier to all these 'conventional' routes is their prohibitive cost. Here, we propose to exploit low temperature natural biological and photocatalytic processes to develop alternative, and cost effective, methods for harvesting solar energy to produce renewable hydrogen fuels directly, and to explore how these could be embedded within novel, integrated energy production systems, incorporating fuel cell and hydrogen storage technology.The successful scale-up of these solar energy-driven renewable hydrogen generation processes would transform the supply of carbon-less fuel and make an enormous impact on the viability of hydrogen as an energy carrier. It will convert the potential to produce hydrogen in a carbon-free, renewable way into a process reality, and is an essential step on the route to fully exploiting fuel cell technology. It will position the UK as a world leader in one of the very few solutions to a truly sustainable energy future. As such, the impact is wide ranging, scientifically, technologically and commercially.