Cambridge researchers develop solar-powered waste-to-fuel system

At a time when energy costs are spiralling and tackling climate change is at the forefront of most people’s minds, innovations that help with both areas are extremely welcome. That’s why a new solar-powered waste-to-fuel system developed by Cambridge researchers could be a game-changer.

The innovative system, which is powered using electricity generated by solar panels, can transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products. The system represents the first time that such a process has been achieved in a solar-powered reactor.

During testing, the system successfully converted CO2 into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels. Plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry. The researchers say that by changing the type of catalyst used in the reactor, the system can easily be tweaked to produce different products.

The system is exciting because it potentially addresses two of the biggest challenges facing the world right now: greenhouse gases and plastic waste. Powering the process with solar makes the whole thing that bit more sustainable too.

“Converting waste into something useful using solar energy is a major goal of our research,” said Professor Erwin Reisner from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, the paper’s senior author. “Plastic pollution is a huge problem worldwide, and often, many of the plastics we throw into recycling bins are incinerated or end up in landfill.

“Developing a circular economy, where we make useful things from waste instead of throwing it into landfill, is vital if we’re going to meaningfully address the climate crisis and protect the natural world,” said Reisner. “And powering these solutions using the Sun means that we’re doing it cleanly and sustainably.”

The Cambridge team now has plans to further develop the reactor to produce more complex molecules over the next five years.

The Cambridge researchers’ results are reported in the journal Nature Synthesis.

Image credit: University of Cambridge

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