Christopher Muhich, an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, has been selected to receive a $310,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, known as SETO. The support will help to advance concentrating solar-thermal power research and development, and further efforts to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector.
If the project is successful, the findings of Muhich and his research team’s work will enable a significant decrease in the price of carbon monoxide, or CO, production and therefore improve industry’s ability to generate low-cost, clean fuels.
“Decarbonization of the world energy infrastructure requires a transition to renewable resources both in the form of electricity and fuels,” Muhich says. “While much of our energy use can be transitioned to electrical energy, there remains a continued need for liquid fuels for use in airplanes, ships and for storage.”