The ENERGY-X report (editors: Nørskov J.K., Latimer A. & Dickens C.F.) provides a scientific roadmap towards sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. It is the result of a three-day workshop, integrating the knowledge of more than 150 scientists and stakeholders. The report highlights scientific challenges in twelve areas integral to realising sustainable fuels and chemicals, and points to the related research needs from a scientific, industrial and societal perspective.
Synthetic fuels offer a promising alternative to fossil fuels as they have the highest energy density of all energy storage media; can be stored cheaply over long periods; and fit into a vast, existing infrastructure for storage, transmission, and use. The challenge is that current technologies to produce synthetic fuels sustainably are, although well established, not economically competitive. A number of scientific and technical challenges must be overcome to change that.
