Help Support EcoWatch
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
World's biggest artificial Sun. Photo credit: DLR
The world's largest artificial sun is now shining at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the town of Jülich. On Wednesday, German scientists switched on project "Synlight" to test ways to make carbon-free fuel.
The honeycomb-like setup involves 149 individually adjustable xenon short-arc lamps that can produce about 10,000 times the intensity of the natural solar radiation on Earth's surface. To illustrate how powerful the lamps are, a single one can light a projector for a large cinema.
<p>"We use the lamps because their light is the most similar to the sun," project manager Kai Wieghardt explained to <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/juelich-forscher-schalten-kuenstliche-supersonne-an-a-1139934.html" target="_blank">Spiegel</a>.</p><p>If all the lamps are targeted to a single spot, Synlight can produce temperatures of up to 3,500 degrees Celsius or 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit.</p><p>
The goal of the experiment, as the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/23/worlds-largest-artificial-sun-german-scientists-activate-synlight#comments" target="_blank">Guardian</a> reported, "is to come up with the optimal setup for concentrating natural sunlight to power a reaction to produce hydrogen fuel."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy85Njk3MjU4L29yaWdpbi5qcGciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjUyMjI1NzI4fQ.lH0WkYREjhVqkLUhMyuSgn854y5rvwr1vsLuvyYisyc/img.jpg?width=980" id="6df86" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a13e0f58db14b38fe7fabc80c8e376c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small placeholder="add caption..." class="image-media media-caption">The 350-kilowatt array is housed in a specially constructed facility in Germany.</small><small placeholder="add photo credit..." class="image-media media-photo-credit">DLR</small>
</p><p>
You've probably heard of
<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/concentrated-solar-power" target="_blank">concentrated solar</a> before. Concentrated solar facilities, like the ones being built in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-solar-project-nevada-2041546638.html" target="_blank">Nevada</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/dubai-to-build-worlds-largest-concentrated-solar-power-plant-1891164329.html" target="_blank">Dubai</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/morocco-to-build-worlds-largest-concentrated-solar-power-plant-1882114163.html" target="_blank">Morocco</a>, involve a large field of movable mirrors that can harness sunlight and power a steam turbine to generate electricity.
</p><p>
<span></span>Likewise, Synlight researchers are "investigating the possibility that a similar setup could be used to power a reaction to extract hydrogen from water vapor, which could then be used as a fuel source for airplanes and cars," according to the Guardian.
</p><p>
<span></span>Hydrogen fuel—which has zero pollutant emissions and no greenhouse gases—has been touted as the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/hydrogen-fuel-cell-vs-electric-cars-which-will-drive-us-into-the-futur-1882109487.html">fuel of the future</a>. Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, and requires large amounts of electricity. Hydrogen fuel projects are seen as cost-prohibitive on a commercial scale.</p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-794659286953689089" id="twitter-embed-794659286953689089" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-794659286953689089&created_ts=1478296512.0&screen_name=EcoWatch&text=World%27s+First+Zero-Emissions+Hydrogen+Train+Unveiled+in+Germany+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FxbP2JdAWrx+%40Act4Renewables+%40euenergyweek&id=794659286953689089&name=EcoWatch" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="6U8E9Z1490372872"></iframe><p>
But as the
<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_ARTIFICIAL_SUN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> explained, researchers hope to bypass the need for electricity by harnessing the vast and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> of the sun instead. </p><p>Or, as <a href="http://www.dlr.de/sf/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10958/19330_read-44887/" target="_blank">DLR</a> put it, Synlight researchers will be focusing on so-called "solar fuels." </p><p>The Jülich experiment currently uses artificial light and requires a lot of electricity to operate. Running the array for only four hours sucks up as much electricity that a four-person household would use in a whole year. The project was also very expensive, costing $3.8 million to build.<br></p><p>
But the researchers hope to eventually use actual sunlight to produce hydrogen. Bernhard Hoffschmidt, director of DLR's Institute for Solar Research, explained to AP that once researchers have mastered hydrogen-making techniques with Synlight, the process can be scaled up ten-fold on the way to reaching a level fit for industry.</p><p>
Although Hoffschmidt noted that hydrogen can be incredibly volatile, by combining it with carbon monoxide produced from renewable sources, scientists could potentially make eco-friendly kerosene for the aviation industry.
</p>
Read More
Show Less