To meet increasing energy needs, while limiting greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades, power capacity on a large scale will need to be provided from renewable sources, with solar expected to play a central role. While the focus to date has been on electricity generation via photovoltaic (PV) cells, electricity production currently accounts for only about one-third of total primary energy consumption. As a consequence, solar-to-fuel conversion will need to play an increasingly important role and, thereby, satisfy the need to replace high energy density fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives that remain easy to transport and store. The solar refinery concept (Herron et al. in Energy Environ Sci 8:126–157, 2015), in which captured solar radiation provides energy in the form of heat, electricity or photons, used to convert the basic chemical feedstocks CO₂ and H₂O into fuels, is reviewed as are the key conversion processes based on (1) combined PV and electrolysis, (2) photoelectrochemically driven electrolysis and (3) thermochemical processes, all focused on initially converting H₂O and CO₂ to H₂ and CO. Recent advances, as well as remaining challenges, associated with solar-to-fuel conversion are discussed, as is the need for an intensive research and development effort to bring such processes to scale.

中文翻译：

---

从太阳能到燃料的转换技术：一个角度。

为了满足不断增长的能源需求，同时在未来几十年内限制温室气体的排放，将需要通过可再生能源大规模提供电力，预计太阳能将发挥重要作用。尽管迄今为止的重点是通过光伏（PV）电池发电，但目前的发电量仅占一次能源总消耗的三分之一。结果，太阳能到燃料的转换将需要发挥越来越重要的作用，从而满足用更易于运输和存储的清洁替代品替代高能量密度化石燃料的需求。太阳精炼厂的概念（Herron等人，Energy Environ Sci 8：126–157，2015），其中捕获的太阳辐射以热，电或光子的形式提供能量，_将2和H ₂ O转化为燃料，以及基于（1）光伏和电解组合，（2）光电化学驱动的电解和（3）热化学过程的关键转化过程进行了回顾，所有这些都着重于最初将H ₂ O和CO ₂转化为燃料的过程。成H ₂和CO。的最新进展，以及剩余的挑战，太阳能到燃料转化讨论相关联，因为是需要一种深入的研究和开发工作，以对比例带来这样的过程。