Sunlight-to-fuels process is topic of April 5 U of M lecture

Media Note: To schedule an interview with Professor Jane Davidson, contact Rhonda Zurn at rzurn@umn.edu or 612-626-7959.

Contacts: Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, rzurn@umn.edu, (612) 626-7959

Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/29/2011) -Turning fossil fuel into energy is easy-you just burn it and live with the carbon dioxide byproduct. What if we could reverse the process and turn carbon dioxide back into fuel?

Find out more about how University of Minnesota researchers are turning the sun's energy and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels that could someday replace petroleum fuels at the next College of Science and Engineering Public Lecture entitled “SUNgas: A Vision for Renewable Fuels” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 5, Tate Laboratory of Physics, Van Vleck Auditorium, 116 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Mechanical engineering professor and world-renowned solar researcher Jane Davidson will present her research team's efforts to solve one of the world's most pressing challenges-the need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously meeting an exploding global demand for energy. Davidson will discuss the potential of using concentrated solar energy to produce synthetic hydrocarbons that have properties equivalent to what we are deriving from petroleum today. This sunlight to fuel process would allow us to use conventional automobiles and existing road infrastructure.

Davidson will also talk about the University's new solar simulator, the first of its kind in the nation. Researchers are tapping the power of this high-tech equipment that can replicate the amount of sunlight equivalent to more than 3,000 suns to convert concentrated sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into synthetic hydrocarbon fuels in the lab. The indoor lab provides consistent experimental conditions independent of weather and time of day.

Professor Davidson is the Ronald L. and Janet A. Christenson Chair of Renewable Energy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her current research focuses on development of solar systems for buildings and solar-driven thermo-chemical cycles to produce renewable fuels. Davidson's work has been recognized with the highest awards in her field, including the American Solar Energy Society Charles Greeley Abbot Award, and the ASME John I. Yellott Award.