Berkeley Lab

Helios Project

In the last 100 years, the Earth warmed up by ~1°C

Temperature over the last 420,000 years

Consumption of Energy Increased by 85% between 1970 and 1999

20202015201020051999199519901985198019751970

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Quadrillion Btu

History Projections

By 2020, Consumption will Triple

Global energy consumption (1998)

Total: 12.8 TW U.S.: 3.3 TW (99 Quads)

4.52

2.72.96

0.286

1.21

0.2860.828

0

1

2

3

4

5

TW

Oil Coal Biomass NuclearGas HydroRenewable

Helios

Solve the challenge of efficiently generating chemical fuel at low cost using solar energy

Photosynthesis

cheap but inefficient efficient but expensive

Solar Driven Electrolysis

Berkeley Lab Broad-based Energy Strategy

FusionCarbon

sequestration

Energy Efficiency

Computation and Modelinggeothermal

Fossil recoveryHelios

Helios

Nanoscience Biology

methanolethanol

hydrogen

hydrocarbons

Carbondioxide

Water

Helios

CellulosePlants

Cellulose-degradingmicrobes

Engineeredphotosynthetic microbes

and plants

ArtificialPhotosynthesis

ElectricityPV Electrochemistry

MethanolEthanolHydrogenHydrocarbons

The Target

Light-to-Fuel at 10% Power Efficiency $ 3/GJ (= Gasoline at $0.4/ Gallon) Carbon Neutral Manufacturable and Sustainable Storable and Transportable Fuel

(energy density Spec.)

Energy Density sorted by Wh/l

Material Volumetric Gravimetric

Diesel 10,942Wh/l 13762Wh/kg

Gasoline   9,700 Wh/l   12,200 Wh/kg

LNG   7,216 Wh/l   12,100 Wh/kg

Propane   6,600 Wh/l   13,900 Wh/kg

Ethanol   6,100 Wh/l   7,850 Wh/kg

Methanol 4,600 Wh/l 6,400 Wh/kg

Liquid H2   2,600 Wh/l   39,000* Wh/kg

Energy Density Spec.

Some benchmarks to consider

Biomass-to-fuel: From ~0.35% to 3.6%– At 3.6% efficiency, 100M acres of arable land (25% of total currently

farmed land) will supply all fuel for transportation based on current fuel efficiency.

Light-to-electricity: 20% efficiency at mass production, $0.02/KWh Electricity-to-chemical storage:

– Presently at most 50% energy efficient; over-voltage to drive rates

– Water to hydrogen 4 electrons; CO2 to methanol six electrons

Direct solar-to-fuel– Sunlight oxidizing water: 1.23 volts

– Overall Power Efficiency Requirement: 10% Fuel interconversion:

– 95% selective

– Greater than10,000 turnovers/sec/site

Combine Nanoscience and Biological Research at LBNL

10 nm

Scale of the Helios problemrequires breaking down the

stovepipes

ALS

EETD

Earth Science

Chemical

Science

Foundry

NCEM

Synthetic Biology

JGI

Nanoscience

NERSC

Microbial production of fuelsPlatformsEnergy sources Fuels

Sunlight + CO2

Cellulose

Starch

Alkanes

Alcohols

Hydrogen

Syngas (CO + H2)

E. coliYeast

Synechocystis

Archae (methanogen)

Microbial fuels Energy production

– Production of hydrogen or ethanol– Efficient conversion of waste into energy– Conversion of sunlight into hydrogen

Lignocellulose

Nearly universal component of biomass Consists of three types of polymers:

– Cellulose– Hemicellulose– Lignin

All three are degraded by bacteria and fungi

Component Percent Dry Weight

Cellulose 40-60%

Hemicellulose 20-40%

Lignin 10-25%

Lignocellulose

Cellulose harvesting

http://www.bio.umass.edu/micro/images/facbios/leschine2.jpg

Cellulose to Fuel

Catalystsrobust enzymesartificial catalysts

SeparationsExtract ethanol from water

Improve upon the microbial degradation of lignocellulosic materials

Better microbesselectivityratesreduced toxicity

Tractable cellulose

decrease crystallinitydecrease lignin

Some “natural” biofuels

Challenges: To understand the mechanisms (genes and enzymes) of hydrocarbon synthesis in natural organisms

build entirely new pathways

Botryococcus braunii

Direct Solar to Fuel

•Linked light absorption charge transfer catalyst units•Biomimetic assembly•Integration Into a range of “membranes”

ASU

Design of catalytic active sites

Biomimetic active site design--embedded in 3D nanostructure for product separation on the nanoscale

Novel Catalytic Microenvironments

inorganic dendrimers and micelles

Organicdendrimers

•control fluctuations•control “flow” of reactants and products

Inorganic channels

PNNL

Helios metrics for success

Identify key decision points Address showstoppers as quickly as possible Bi-annual international workshops to assess progress Annual plan Milestones and goals for ensuing three years Semi-annual reporting Annual Helios retreat/review with external reviewers

The goal of Helios is to provide a significant breakthrough within ten years

Science and technology trajectory analysis:

Fuels

Berkeley Lab

Helios ProjectFurther Information: Elaine Chandler, Helios@lbl.gov510 486-6854