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Annual Report 201
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co2
should be a sustainable business our planet is in need of alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels
. however, we are still far from being in- dependent of oil, coal, and natural gases, the use of which every year leads to tons of co2 being emitted into the earth?s atmosphere. but what if you could use this otherwise harmful greenhouse gas for storing green energy or producing useful chemicals for everyday products? around the world, researchers are racing to find an effective and affordable way to achieve exactly this. and, according to anker degn jensen, professor at dtu chemical engineering, co2 could very well become an important resource in the future. ?almost all fuels and chemicals contain carbon which today is obtained from fossil fuels. however, co2 is also a possible source of carbon. so, when we no longer wish to use or do not have any more fossil fuels, the ability to effectively convert co2 into chemicals could prove to hold great potential in the long run. and in the meantime, large point sources ? such as power plants and cement factories ? are attractive sources of co2,? says the professor and catalysis expert. methods to convert co 2 into, for instance, ethanol
? one of the promising alternatives to fossil fuels ? already exist. however, there is a significant bump on the road: the process remains too ineffective and the yield of ethanol too low in the end. therefore, professor anker degn jensen together with his colleague from the chec research centre, assistant professor jakob munkholt, are working with colleagues from dtu and stanford university to find a solution that is both environmentally and economically attractive. their research project is called ?thermally driven processes for co2 reduction to fuels and chemical building blocks?. the aim of the project is to develop a catalyst which can convert co2 into ethanol at a low pressure and temperature. conversion of co2 traditionally requires a great amount of energy. however, if it can be done at lower pressures and temperatures, it will be feasible to use, for instance, solar or wind power for the process. the ethanol can, as such, become a way to store the electricity produced from these sustainable energy sources. too much is wasted ethanol can be produced by a reaction between co2 and hydrogen using a catalyst. however, the challenge with this process is that the currently best catalysts used for this reaction cannot prevent that a significant part of the co2 ends up as unwanted light hydrocarbons, particularly methane. furthermore, too much of the hydrogen is wasted as it is converted into water. ??e waste of hydrogen is problematic, as there are significant costs associat- ed with producing hydrogen and that means we are still relatively far from having anything of commercial interest. ?at?s why we are trying to develop new catalysts with the ability to effectively convert co2 into ethanol as well as other valuable alcohols to replace fossil fuels,? says assistant professor jakob munkholt christensen. difficult, but with great potential although converting co2 is a challenging process, the team of researchers are optimistic about finding the right materials with the right abilities to make effective catalysts. ?rhodium-based catalysts have shown great potential, but are expensive. we will research how and why it functions so well and with this knowledge we hope to imitate the properties to make a cheaper synthetic catalyst,? says jakob munkholt christensen. ?e project is part of the new v-sustain research centre at dtu focusing on sustainable chemicals and fuels. ?e work was kicked off in the summer of 2016 and will continue for the next eight years with four new phd students expected to be hired at dtu chemical engineering. chec ?
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