[jr2]

Is this even possible??

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/solar-jet-fuel-has-been-created-for-the-first-time-1571192127

[headdie]

scientific possible? defo and to one degree or another has been worked on by many groups for a long time now.

economically Possible? unsure, while the energy and reactants are theoretically free, the temperatures involved means I would not be surprised if you are needing to replace components fairly regularly due to melt and various issues such as heat stress.

another issue is energy, while in theory it can be done with natural light the most efficient results will invariably be found in areas which is capable of sustaining long durations of high intensity sunlight, otherwise you are potentially looking at artificial sources like the one used in the experiment which then brings the cost of that energy into play, this also reduces the "green" benefits.

Also while it is possible with the available atmospheric gasses, again can you produce enough from this to be cost effective or will you need to ship in the material? again additional costs and less environmentally friendly.

Lastly what is the cost of converting to a usable fuel source?

[Dragon]

It's called the Sabatier reaction. US Navy is gonna use this for making jet and ship fuel using a nuclear reactor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction

[headdie]

naval use would have an interesting possibility in that what happens if you were to tank rather than vent the exhaust from conventional engines and then feed that into the carrier/tender based system.  I suppose it would come down to
1) is it possible?
2) would it impart any saving to make it worth while?

[Dragon]

You can do it on a nuclear carrier, meaning you can stop dragging the tender around, basically. It's also CO2-neutral, since it comes out of seawater and subsequently gets back to it.

[jr2]

For sunlight, use a bunch of mirrors a la solar power planst point em where you need the death ray light.