Solar to Liquid Fuel for Future Sustainability (SoLFuel)

英国成为首个通过净零排放法的主要经济体。该目标要求英国到2050年将所有温室气体排放降至净零。这个新目标不能仅仅通过实施替代能源来实现。碳捕获和利用技术也需要降低排放水平，到2050年实现净零排放。在这种情况下，我们提出了通过质子交换膜（PEM）电解槽电解水并与二氧化碳（CO2）反应来生产液体燃料（甲酸）。拟议的项目将通过捕获和再利用太阳能来生产甲酸，从而有助于降低环境中的二氧化碳浓度。除了在几乎所有行业的广泛应用外，甲酸还可以作为便携式设备、车辆和其他能源相关应用的重要燃料。产生的甲酸可以很容易地储存起来，作为一种便携式能量，可以很容易地通过燃料电池将其转换回电能。氧（O2）可用于产生消毒剂臭氧（O3），因为它具有氧化/清洁潜力。甲酸有许多优点，如(i)它具有高能量密度，因为它可以含有高浓度的氢，（ii）它是环保的，因为它也在自然界中自然形成，（iii）它具有快速的反应动力学，允许反应像电解一样快速发生，（iv）它可以在室温下储存，并且它足够稳定用于运输和(v)它具有小的有机分子，有助于去除复杂的催化重整。通过这项研究，我们的目标是设计和开发一个独立的设备，将太阳能和二氧化碳转化为甲酸，一种碳中性燃料，而不需要任何额外的组件或电力。这种远程独立设备可以扩大规模，用于类似太阳能农场的能源农场，利用阳光和二氧化碳生产清洁燃料。

UK becomes first major economy to pass net zero emissions law. The target will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050. This new target cannot be achieved only by implementing alternative energy sources. Carbon capture and utilization technologies are also required to reduce emission level to achieve Net Zero by 2050.In this context, we proposed liquid fuel (Formic Acid) production by electrolytic splitting of water and its reaction with carbon dioxide (CO2) through proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. The proposed project will help to reduce CO2 concentration in the environment by capturing and reutilization to produce Formic Acid using solar energy. In addition to its wide applications in almost every industry, Formic Acid can be used as an important fuel for portable devices, vehicles, and other energy-related applications in the future. The produced formic acid can be stored for ease, which acts as a portable energy to readily convert it back to electricity using fuel cell. Oxygen (O2) can be used to produce a disinfectant Ozone (O3) for its oxidation/cleaning potential. Formic acid have many advantages such as (i) it has high energy density as it can have high concentration of hydrogen, (ii) It is environmentally friendly as it also naturally formed in nature, (iii) it has fast reaction kinetics which allows reactions to happen fast like in electrolysis, (iv) It can be stored in room temperature, and it is stable enough for transportation and (v) it has small orgonic molecule which helps in removing complicated catalytic reforming.Through this studentship, we aim to design and develop a standalone device to convert solar energy and CO2 into formic acid, a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity. The remote standalone device could be scaled up and used on energy farms similar to solar farms, producing clean fuel using sunlight and CO2.