Firm makes diesel directly from sunlight

“Massachusetts biotech company Joule Unlimited says it’s demonstrated a process for generating pure diesel directly from solar energy.

The company’s Helioculture platform converts sunlight and waste CO2 directly into liquid fuel – Liquid Fuel from the Sun – without the two-stage process of using sunlight to grow plants which are then processed for fuel.

“We have channeled photosynthesis, the most productive energy-capture process on earth, at efficiencies previously thought unattainable. At the same time we’ve eliminated dependence on biomass, the Achilles heel of biofuel production, and the prohibitive costs, processing and logistics it entails,” says Bill Sims, president and CEO of Joule.

“The result is a new paradigm for renewable fuel production with unrivalled productivity targets that are fully supported by actual, measurable gains we’ve achieved at every layer – from photon capture through product synthesis, secretion, separation and collection.”

In a peer-reviewed article published by Photosynthesis Research, Joule demonstrates that it can directly produce 15,000 gallons of diesel per acre annually, as compared to 3,000 gallons of biodiesel produced indirectly from algae.”

Firm makes diesel directly from sunlight | TG Daily

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