Socioecology Research Today

Rather than generate electricity at the African solar concentrators, says Müller’s group, engineers should direct the sunlight to reactors filled with limestone (CaCO₃). At around 1000°C, the limestone would convert to quicklime (CaO) and CO₂, which could be converted using other solar energy and hydrogen into useful fuel such as methane. Meanwhile, the lime could be transported over land and sea to European cities where, upon heating to 650°C in the presence of CO₂ from local fossil fuel plants, it would reconvert to limestone with a massive release of heat. This heat would then boil water into steam to drive turbines, generating electricity on-site.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C1EE01595H

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