Highlighting the Greener Shift in Transportation Energy and Fuels Based on Novel Catalytic Materials
Oki Muraza
Abstract
Sustainable energy and fuels for personal vehicles is one of the most important topics nowadays. With the spirit being to minimize climate change, decarbonization strategy has been applied to transportation fuels, power generation, and personal vehicles. In the past, there was an incentive to shift from gasoline to biomass-derived liquid fuels such as ethanol. With an oversupply of shale gas and the availability of biogas, carbon pollution was further reduced to compressed natural gas and hydrogen fuel. Recently, the personal electric vehicle has also being promoted in different countries. However, there are many challenges in each generation of fuels. In this minireview, substantial research avenues for each alternative fuel are being highlighted from a heterogeneous catalysis perspective. The needs for better catalysts in ethanol blended gasoline production, the quest to get better methane and hydrogen storage, and the search for abundant energy storage materials are discussed carefully. Since most of countries with electric vehicle programs are still generating electricity in coal plants, the search for cost-effective sorbent materials for CO2 capture materials are also emphasized.