Sustainable energy cycles based on liquid oxygenates as carbon-neutral hydrogen carriers: A holistic vision
Résumé
Simple energy-dense liquid oxygenates obtained directly from biomass e.g., fermentation ethanol, or “solar methanol”, synthesised from renewable hydrogen (via PV-driven water electrolysis) and recycled carbon dioxide, could provide the basis of an energy cycle that is climate-neutral and promotes long-term sustainability in industrial chemical processing. The development of new earth-abundant heterogeneous (photo-)catalysts and associated reaction engineering promoting hydrogen release (by steam-reforming) and insertion (by CO2 hydro-deoxygenation) under mild conditions will be pivotal to its success. This review anticipates the key methodologies involved in future bio-refineries and forecasts the increasing role therein of modular and portable low-power solar concentrators as renewable (photonic and thermal) resources. The techno-economic prospects for oxygenates like acetaldehyde, ethylene glycol, and glycerol, are also considered based on their reactivity (C2) and/or a pre-existent supply glut in need of valorisation (C3). Many examples highlighting the growing importance of computational (DFT and microkinetic) modelling in catalyst development are presented.
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