Introduction and General Overview

Catalysis plays a key role to address the challenge of sustainable energy and alternative methods to produce energy with respect to using fossil fuels. This field of research and development has given a new impetus to research on catalysis in areas such as producing biofuels, development of advanced electrodes for a number of applications (from new-generation photovoltaic cells to fuel cells), production of renewable H2 and in a longer-term perspective solar fuels. However, the discussion on the technical aspects on the development of catalysts in these areas should be complemented with considerations on the general economic and social context and related constrains which determine the choice of the research priorities. This introductory chapter was mainly focused on these aspects.

[1]  P. Gallezot,et al.  Catalytic conversion of biomass: challenges and issues. , 2008, ChemSusChem.

[2]  M. Aresta.  Carbon dioxide as chemical feedstock , 2010 .

[3]  Javier Garcia-Martinez,et al.  Nanotechnology for the energy challenge , 2010 .

[4]  Nelson A. Kelly,et al.  Optimization of solar powered hydrogen production using photovoltaic electrolysis devices , 2008 .

[5]  Zhou Yuan-bing.  Summary of the Key Points of IEA World Energy Outlook 2009 , 2010 .

[6]  A. Nozik.  Nanoscience and nanostructures for photovoltaics and solar fuels. , 2010, Nano letters.

[7]  Gabriele Centi,et al.  Catalysis for Renewables , 2007 .

[8]  D. Gregory,et al.  Hydrogen: A future energy vector for sustainable development , 2010 .

[9]  Somnath C. Roy,et al.  Toward solar fuels: photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons. , 2010, ACS nano.

[10]  David Strahan.  Hydrogen's long road to nowhere , 2008 .

[11]  Helmut Tributsch,et al.  Photovoltaic hydrogen generation , 2008 .

[12]  Michael Stöcker,et al.  Biofuels and biomass-to-liquid fuels in the biorefinery: catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass using porous materials. , 2008, Angewandte Chemie.

[13]  David Strahan.  Whatever happened to the hydrogen economy , 2008 .

[14]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  Catalysis, a driver for sustainability and societal challenges , 2008 .

[15]  R. Schlögl.  The role of chemistry in the energy challenge. , 2010, ChemSusChem.

[16]  G. Somorjai,et al.  Nanoscale advances in catalysis and energy applications. , 2010, Nano letters.

[17]  Andreas Züttel,et al.  Hydrogen as a future energy carrier , 2008 .

[18]  M. Kaltschmitt,et al.  Next-generation biofuels: Survey of emerging technologies and sustainability issues. , 2010, ChemSusChem.

[19]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  The Role of Nanostructure in Improving the Performance of Electrodes for Energy Storage and Conversion , 2009 .

[20]  Fabrizio Cavani,et al.  Sustainable Industrial Chemistry , 2009 .

[21]  M. Mercedes Maroto-Valer,et al.  Developments and innovation in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture and storage technology , 2010 .

[22]  Zhenguo Yang,et al.  Oriented nanostructures for energy conversion and storage. , 2008, ChemSusChem.

[23]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  Analysis of the alternative routes in the catalytic transformation of lignocellulosic materials , 2011 .

[24]  Robert J. Farrauto.  BUILDING THE HYDROGEN ECONOMY , 2009 .

[25]  E. Fujita,et al.  Molecular approaches to the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide for solar fuels. , 2009, Accounts of chemical research.

[26]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  Towards solar fuels from water and CO2. , 2010, ChemSusChem.

[27]  T. Nejat Veziroglu,et al.  “Green” path from fossil-based to hydrogen economy: An overview of carbon-neutral technologies , 2008 .

[28]  G. Graff,et al.  Cover Picture: Oriented Nanostructures for Energy Conversion and Storage (ChemSusChem 8-9-9/2008) , 2008 .

[29]  James J. Spivey,et al.  Catalysis in the development of clean energy technologies , 2005 .

[30]  D. Su,et al.  Nanostructured carbon and carbon nanocomposites for electrochemical energy storage applications. , 2010, ChemSusChem.

[31]  Chang Liu,et al.  Advanced Materials for Energy Storage , 2010, Advanced materials.

[32]  Justin C. Lytle,et al.  Multifunctional 3D nanoarchitectures for energy storage and conversion. , 2009, Chemical Society reviews.

[33]  John Regalbuto,et al.  An NSF perspective on next generation hydrocarbon biorefineries , 2010, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[34]  Craig A. Grimes,et al.  Recent Advances in the Use of TiO2 Nanotube and Nanowire Arrays for Oxidative Photoelectrochemistry , 2009 .

[35]  Craig A. Grimes,et al.  TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications , 2009 .

[36]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  Catalysis: Role and Challenges for a Sustainable Energy , 2009 .

[37]  Jennifer Kurtz,et al.  Learning Demonstration Interim Progress Report -- July 2010 , 2010 .

[38]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  CO2‐based energy vectors for the storage of solar energy , 2011 .

[39]  Siglinda Perathoner,et al.  Creating and mastering nano-objects to design advanced catalytic materials , 2011 .

[40]  Francesco Cherubini,et al.  LCA of a biorefinery concept producing bioethanol, bioenergy, and chemicals from switchgrass , 2010 .

[41]  Dionisios G. Vlachos,et al.  The roles of catalysis and reaction engineering in overcoming the energy and the environment crisis , 2010 .

[42]  Guillermo Rus,et al.  Nanotechnology for sustainable energy , 2009 .

[43]  J. Siirola,et al.  Catalysts for Emerging Energy Applications , 2008 .

[44]  Ferdi Schüth,et al.  Nanocasting: A Versatile Strategy for Creating Nanostructured Porous Materials , 2009 .

[45]  A. Corma,et al.  Synthesis of transportation fuels from biomass: chemistry, catalysts, and engineering. , 2006, Chemical reviews.

[46]  G. Centi,et al.  Nano-architecture and reactivity of titania catalytic materials. Part 2. Bidimensional nanostructured films , 2009 .

[47]  Stephen A. Wells,et al.  Hydrogen nexus in a sustainable energy future , 2008 .

[48]  Nathan S. Lewis,et al.  Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization: report of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop on Solar Energy Utilization, April 18-21, 2005 , 2005 .

[49]  G. Centi,et al.  Opportunities and prospects in the chemical recycling of carbon dioxide to fuels , 2009 .