Powering the Future with Liquid Sunshine
Open accessAbstract
Summary In 2017, global CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels reached 33 gigatons, twice the natural rate at which CO2 is absorbed back into land and ocean sinks. Harnessing solar radiation holds the answer to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. It is the most abundant energy resource and could meet humans' future energy needs. The efficient conversion of solar radiation into stable, energy-dense liquid energy carriers that can use existing or adapt global supply chains for storage, shipping, and distribution is the key to large-scale deployment of solar energy at gigaton levels. Liquid sunshine is the vision of combining the sun's energy with carbon dioxide and water to produce green liquid fuels. CO2 released on using these fuels is recycled back into the environment, thus maintaining an ecologically balanced cycle. Multi-source and multi-purpose alcohols are optimal candidate fuels. Methanol and ethanol are actionable first targets with gigaton production potential.
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Some CO2 chemical technologies are technically possible but not widely adopted, such as the production of CO2-derived methanol in the absence of carbon monoxide.
“Some are technically possible but are not widely adopted, such as the production of CO 2 -derived methanol in the absence of carbon monoxide 32”
From The technological and economic prospects for CO2 utilization and removal (2019) · cites this paper as [32]
The “Roadmap from Fossilized Sunshine to Liquid Sunshine” section describes methanol production from captured CO₂ and says the first commercial deployment of this green-methanol technology could be expected in 2040, supporting that it was not widely deployed. The “5G Liquid Sunshine: Green Alcohol Production” section describes CO₂ hydrogenation approaches, but neither passage establishes production in the absence of carbon monoxide. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCO2-derived fuels could find a role in sectors that are harder to decarbonize, such as aviation, since hydrocarbons have energy densities orders of magnitude above those of present-day batteries.
“Such fuels could also find a role in sectors that are harder to decarbonize, such as aviation 39 , since hydrocarbons have energy densities that are orders of magnitude above those of present-day batteries 32 .”
From The technological and economic prospects for CO2 utilization and removal (2019) · cites this paper as [32]
The “Supply Chain: Short-and Long-Term Storage” section says liquid energy carriers have energy densities typically 10–50 times those of batteries, supporting the comparison but not the claim of multiple orders of magnitude. The “Roadmap from Fossilized Sunshine to Liquid Sunshine” section discusses CO2-derived alcohol fuels; the passages found do not address their use in aviation. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe liquid sunshine concept combines solar energy with captured CO2 and water to generate green liquid fuels and may deliver an ecologically balanced cycle between generation and utilization of CO2 in global production systems.
“Recently, a new concept of liquid sunshine has been proposed for combining solar energy with captured CO2 and water to generate green liquid fuels, such as methanol and alcohol, which may deliver an ecologically balanced cycle between generation and utilization of CO2 in global production systems.55”
From Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality (2021) · cites this paper as [55]
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- Authors
- Shih, C. F., Zhang, T., Li, J., & Bai, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Shih, Choon Fong
- Bai, Chunli
- Venue
- Joule
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-10
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1925-1949
- ISSN
- 2542-4351 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2890275795
- Semantic Scholar
- cd985ea1fb2894ebf5c69a69cb55e7d9ba2a9483
- Cited by
- 864
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 99 · 2025: 111 · 2024: 172 · 2023: 128 · 2022: 140 · 2021: 93 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 12.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Joule (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Catalysis › Catalysts for Methane Reforming
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Keywords
- solar fuels, green methanol, CO2 utilization, solar energy storage, carbon recycling, CO2 emission reduction
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