--- title: Solar Energy Can Now Be Converted Into Liquid Fuel description: Researchers have discovered how to convert solar energy into liquid fuel, potentially accelerating our switch to this form of energy canonical: https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/ author: Sabrina Toppa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-12T09:27:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:49.261Z article:section: Science og:title: Solar Energy Can Now Be Converted Into Liquid Fuel og:description: That means its practical applications just got a whole lot wider. og:url: https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50af26e18f533af9/69877ee7524fc07e25dec720/140892340.jpg?branch=production&width=414&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 414 og:image:height: 233 og:image:alt: 140892340 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Solar Energy Can Now Be Converted Into Liquid Fuel twitter:description: That means its practical applications just got a whole lot wider. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50af26e18f533af9/69877ee7524fc07e25dec720/140892340.jpg?branch=production&width=414&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists Have Figured Out a Way to Convert Solar Energy Into Liquid Fuel > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a65e4165-7552-473f-b86a-ee0dbb59ff74&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Explains: Solar Energy [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: Solar Energy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0isWJF6a.m3u8) (1:56)  _Published 2013-10-23. The largest solar plant in the world is going online soon in California. Its construction marks the beginning of an explosion of growth in the U.S Solar industry._ by [Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Feb 12, 2015 9:27 AM UTC The largest solar plant in the world is going online soon in California. Its construction marks the beginning of an explosion of growth in the U.S Solar industry. by [Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Feb 12, 2015 9:27 AM UTC Researchers at Harvard have [discovered](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150209161423.htm) how to convert solar energy into liquid fuel, potentially accelerating our switch to the alternative-energy source, according to an article in this month’s scientific journal _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_ (_PNAS_). At the moment, solar energy can be converted into hydrogen by using photovoltaic cells. The hydrogen can then be stored in fuel cells for future use. But hydrogen has failed to make headway as an energy source in a world that is infrastructurally set up to handle liquid fuels. Now, however, scientists have figured out a way of using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. They then use a bacterium to convert the hydrogen, plus carbon dioxide, into the liquid fuel isopropanol. “This is a proof of concept that you can have a way of harvesting solar energy and storing it in the form of a liquid fuel,” said researcher Pamela Silver. The hope now is that solar energy will find more takers, particularly in the developing world, where the ability to make energy locally will be a boon. \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150209161423.htm)\] _Read next:_ [_U.S. Oil Production Reaches All-Time High Amid Low Crude Prices_](http://time.com/3706765/oil-production-high-crude/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [00:00] The biggest solar plant in the world is about to go [00:02] online at the Mojave desert in California, producing [00:04] enough electricity to supply 140, 000 homes. Does [00:07] this mean that solar power is finally going to become a [00:10] reality for the United States? Here's what you need to [00:11] know. [ MUSIC ] Environmentalists [00:20] have long dreamed that solar power would one day [00:22] become the dominant source of energy in the United [00:24] States. The problem is that solar power has always [00:26] been very expensive and not very efficient. But that's [00:28] beginning to change. The big revolution in solar power [00:31] has been amazing reductions in cost. Back in the late [00:34] 1970s, when President Jimmy Carter was putting solar [00:37] panels on top of the White House roof, solar power [00:39] cost as much as $ 76 to produce one watt of energy. It [00:43] now costs less than $ 1 to produce a watt of solar [00:46] energy. Despite that, solar power is still a tiny part of [00:49] the overall US energy supply. Maybe less than 1 %. But [00:53] it's also the fastest growing supply. Right now, in [00:56] California's Mojave Desert a, company called [00:59] BrightSource Energy is putting the finishing touches on [01:01] something called the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating [01:03] Station. It does so in a different kind of way. It actually [01:06] takes the heat of the sun, reflects it out on mirrors, [01:09] and creates steam that then generates electric [01:11] turbines. The hope is that not only can this produce [01:13] energy on a much grander scale than we've seen with [01:16] solar power before. If you actually might be able to [01:18] store that solar energy. So you can actually keep [01:20] producing power even at nighttime, or on those rare [01:23] days in the desert when the sun is cloudy. Beyond [01:24] those big kind of stations, a lot [01:28] of solar would go up in smaller distributive scale. And [01:31] that will be an advantage in the future. When we could [01:33] have situations like we saw here in New York City with [01:36] superstorm Sandy. In that case. The idea of having a [01:38] distributed grid, will be an incredibly useful backup. [01:42] There are even experts who predict that one day, [01:43] solar could become the backbone of a new distributed [01:45] grid. One that's safer, and more reliable. And if that [01:49] day ever comes, environmentalists' dreams will finally [01:51] be fulfilled. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/"},"headline":"Scientists Have Figured Out a Way to Convert Solar Energy Into Liquid Fuel","datePublished":"2015-02-12T09:27:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:02:49.261Z","description":"The potential applications of solar power just got a whole lot wider","url":"https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/","keywords":["Environment","Science topic","solar energy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50af26e18f533af9/69877ee7524fc07e25dec720/140892340.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50af26e18f533af9/69877ee7524fc07e25dec720/140892340.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"140892340","caption":"140892340","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3706444/solar-energy-liquid-fuel/","name":"Scientists Have Figured Out a Way to Convert Solar Energy Into Liquid Fuel"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: Solar Energy","description":"The largest solar plant in the world is going online soon in California. 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