Future Of Energy: World's Largest Artificial Sun Generates Power In Germany

Germany hit the switch on the largest artificial sun in the world Wednesday, pushing its nationwide commitment to renewable energy a step further. Project Synlight, housed inside a protective radiation chamber at the German Aerospace Center in Julich, aims to harness light to produce fuel with no carbon footprint.

The 149 adjustable xenon short-arc lamps can collectively produce temperatures of up to 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit. The lamps were chosen because their light is the most similar to that of the sun.

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“If you went in the room when it was switched on, you’d burn directly,” Bernard Hoffschmidt, a research director at the German Aerospace Center, told the Guardian Thursday.

Synlight requires an immense amount of energy to operate: running it for four hours uses the same amount of electricity as a four-person household does in one year, according to EcoWatch. However, scientists hope the multitude of artificial lights might be able to produce hydrogen fuel.

“We’d need billions of tons of hydrogen if we wanted to drive airplanes and cars on CO2-free fuel,” Hoffschmidt told the Guardian. “Climate change is speeding up so we need to speed up innovation.”

The $3.8 million artificial sun is merely Germany’s latest foray into renewable energy innovation. As part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “Energiewende” policy, the country has aimed to reduce its carbon emissions and rely more on renewable power. On a single day in May, Germany used exclusively clean energy to supply all of its power demand.

The country was previously the world leader in solar power until China jumped ahead in 2016 after installing 34 gigawatts of solar energy. As of 2014, Germany remained the top producer of renewable energy within the European Union, with 18.4 percent of its total energy coming from renewables, according to the E.U.’s data.