Breaking dawn: the solar-powered future of transportation

In our latest episode of Lexicon , we sat down with Philipp Furler, co-CEO and co-founder of Synhelion, to discuss the company’s work on solar-powered synthetic fuel production technology.

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Synthetic fuels reimagined

Synhelion’s vision is to utilize solar power to create sustainable liquid fuels that can directly replace fossil fuels. First developed at ETH Zurich, Synhelion’s new technology converts solar energy into synthetic fuels through something called thermochemical processes.

These fuels can be used in sectors like aviation, shipping, and road transportation, which rely heavily on fossil fuels. “We generate high-temperature solar heat, converting sunlight into liquid transportation fuels,” explained Furler.

Synhelion’s process focuses sunlight onto a central tower using mirrors, where the energy is absorbed and converted into heat. Using this high-temperature heat, chemical reactions can be supercharged to convert a carbon source—such as biomethane or CO2—into something called “syngas.”

For the uninitiated, this is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. After production, this can then be liquefied to create synthetic crude oil, which can be further refined (like traditional oil) into kerosene, diesel, and gasoline.

The DAWN Plant

The heart of Synhelion’s ambitions is its DAWN plant. Located in Jülich, Germany, the plant is the world’s first industrial-scale facility for producing solar fuels.

“The DAWN plant is fully compatible with the current global infrastructure,” Furler emphasized.

“You can simply co-process it with other crude oil streams,” Furler added. Furler further highlighted that no major infrastructure changes are required to adopt solar fuels. This should be a critical factor in accelerating their deployment.

DAWN’s production capacity is expected to reach several thousand liters of fuel annually. While this may seem modest compared to global fuel demand, it marks the beginning of a larger journey toward mass production.

Synhelion has already announced plans for future plants. The next major facility, RISE, will be ten times larger than DAWN and located in Spain.

Scaling up is always a challenge

Building a solar fuel plant at an industrial scale is no small feat, and Furler acknowledged Synhelion’s challenges in bringing DAWN online. “The major achievement we made with DAWN is to bring our team, which started as researchers, into a company capable of executing complex plant projects at the industrial scale,” he said.

One critical challenge is ensuring the technology can be scaled up efficiently while remaining cost-effective. To achieve this, Synhelion has partnered with industry experts from sectors like oil, gas, and steel, who bring valuable experience building and operating large-scale plants.

Another challenge is ensuring continuous fuel production, even when the sun isn’t shining. DAWN overcomes this with an innovative thermal energy storage system. “Large-scale fuel plants don’t want to ramp up and down just because the sun isn’t shining,” Furler explained.

Synhelion’s solution stores excess solar heat in ceramic materials during the day, which can then keep the chemical reactions running at night or during cloudy periods. “This allows us to operate the plant 24 hours a day, critical for keeping production costs low,” he added.

The dawn of solar fuels

One of the most promising applications for Synhelion’s solar fuels is in the aviation sector, which has long been searching for viable alternatives to fossil-derived kerosene. According to Furler, long-haul flights are responsible for around 70% of aviation’s carbon emissions, and electric solutions like batteries or hydrogen are impractical due to their lower energy density than kerosene.

“For long-haul flights, you have no choice other than using kerosene because of the energy density,” Furler explained. Solar kerosene, produced using Synhelion’s technology, can decarbonize aviation without requiring a complete overhaul of aircraft engines or refueling infrastructure.

“We reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 85% compared to fossil-derived jet fuel,” Furler explained. With further optimization, Synhelion aims to push this closer to 100%.

Synhelion has already secured partnerships with key players in the aviation industry, including Lufthansa, Europe’s largest consumer of kerosene.

“We set up the value chain with our key customers, including Lufthansa Group and Pilatus, to supply them with solar fuels,” Furler noted. By working directly with airlines, Synhelion is helping to build a future where sustainable fuels power the skies.

Shaping up to change everything

While DAWN represents an important milestone, Synhelion’s ambitions extend far beyond its first industrial-scale plant. The company is already working on its next major facility, the RISE plant, which will have a production capacity of 1,000 tons of fuel per year and is expected to be operational by 2027. But this is just the beginning.

“We want to have the first competitive plant on the ground, plant Shine, by 2030, producing 100,000 tons per year,” Furler said. By 2033, Synhelion aims to have several plants with capacities of several hundred thousand tons per year.

These larger plants will be capable of producing fuel at prices competitive with fossil fuels, paving the way for widespread adoption. “Our mission is to scale this technology to create global impact,” Furler emphasized. While Synhelion will not be the only player in the sustainable fuels market, it aims to be significant.

The company’s strategy involves moving from being a fuel producer to a technology provider, licensing its solar fuel technology to major oil and gas companies worldwide. This approach will allow for faster global deployment and help Synhelion realize its vision of becoming a leader in sustainable transportation fuels.

Looking to the future

Solar fuels represent a promising solution for sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation, shipping, and long-distance road transport. While electrification will significantly reduce emissions, Furler believes solar fuels will be a critical complementary technology.

“We should stay technology open,” Furler said, advocating for a flexible approach to achieving global emissions targets. “I don’t believe that one technology will serve all needs. We should use a combination of different approaches to most efficiently reach our goals,” he added.

With Synhelion’s innovative solar fuel technology, the future of transportation could be powered by the sun. As Furler and his team continue to scale up their plants, the dream of a fossil-free future for aviation and beyond is becoming a reality.

“Our mission is to create global impact,” Furler concluded. And with Synhelion’s groundbreaking work, they are well on their way to doing just that.

Synhelion’s solar fuel technology marks a turning point in the quest for sustainable energy. By converting sunlight into liquid fuels that are compatible with existing infrastructure, the company is poised to revolutionize the transportation sector.

Furler succinctly concluded that “this technology can be scaled to very large sizes, and our mission is to replace a significant part of the fossil kerosene with sustainable alternatives.”