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Closeup: Converting Sunlight Into Liquid Fuel

President Obama highlights solar fuel research in State of the Union address

Among strong remarks on climate and renewable energy sources during his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Barack Obama made direct mention of solar fuels research.

“I want Americans to win the race for the kinds of discoveries that unleash new jobs -- converting sunlight into liquid fuel...” President Obama said. [queued videofull transcript]

Northwestern University is home to two centers working towards this goal: the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center (ANSER) and the Solar Fuels Institute (SOFI), both portfolio centers of the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN)

President Obama also highlighted this work during his visit to Northwestern last October.