Solar machine produces Hydrogen fuel like a plant using Ceria

In the prototype, sunlight heats

a ceria cylinder which breaks down

water or carbon dioxide

The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria.

Ceria

has a natural propensity to exhale oxygen as it heats up and inhale it as it cools down.

If as in the prototype, hydrogen and/or water are pumped into the vessel, the ceria will rapidly strip the oxygen from them as it cools, creating hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide.

Hydrogen

produced could be used to fuel hydrogen fuel cells in cars, for example, while a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be used to create "syngas" for fuel.

Efficiency

Prototype 1% could go up to 20% conversion

source: bbc.co.uk