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Title Solar reforming as an emerging technology for circular chemical industries
ID_Doc 9945
Authors Bhattacharjee, S; Linley, S; Reisner, E
Title Solar reforming as an emerging technology for circular chemical industries
Year 2024
Published Nature Reviews Chemistry, 8.0, 2
DOI 10.1038/s41570-023-00567-x
Abstract The adverse environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and persistent waste accumulation are driving the demand for sustainable approaches to clean-energy production and waste recycling. By coupling the thermodynamically favourable oxidation of waste-derived organic carbon streams with fuel-forming reduction reactions suitable for producing clean hydrogen or converting CO2 to fuels, solar reforming simultaneously valorizes waste and generates useful chemical products. With appropriate light harvesting, catalyst design, device configurations and waste pre-treatment strategies, a range of sustainable fuels and value-added chemicals can already be selectively produced from diverse waste feedstocks, including biomass and plastics, demonstrating the potential of solar-powered upcycling plants. This Review highlights solar reforming as an emerging technology that is currently transitioning from fundamental research towards practical application. We investigate the chemistry and compatibility of waste pre-treatment, introduce process classifications, explore the mechanisms of different solar reforming technologies, and suggest appropriate concepts, metrics and pathways for various deployment scenarios in a net-zero-carbon future. This Review introduces solar reforming as an emerging technology to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals from diverse waste feedstocks using sunlight. The chemistry and concept of solar reforming, suggestions of key metrics and proposed directions to realize solar-powered refineries for a future circular economy are discussed.
Author Keywords
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:001152693700001
WoS Category Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Research Area Chemistry
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