Background and scope:
There are currently quite mature technologies tested on industrial pilot scale to provide synthetic fuels and chemicals from renewable energy sources via a sequence of independent energy and chemical conversion steps (Power-to-X or Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies). However, energy losses during the different steps (e.g., electricity production or thermochemical conversion) make the process highly energy intense. Also, the provision of affordable, renewable electricity at the needed scale is challenging. A potential workaround to this bottleneck is the development of devices which directly convert solar energy and abundantly available molecules (such as water or carbon oxides) into liquids and gases - within a single device. These so-called solar-to-X technologies avoid the beforehand conversion of solar energy into electricity and reduce the complexity of the process by a complete integration of the different steps. Solar-to-X technologies, also called artificial photosynthesis or solar fuel technologies, support the vision of a decentralized, local energy and production system with a local provision of the needed resources. In this vision, communities become not only prosumers of electricity, but also of fuels, chemicals and materials.
In this Challenge, solar-to-X technologies must address societal needs not already sufficiently covered by other energy technologies. The developed technologies
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