The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has announced a $13.7 million investment in four projects aimed at scaling up the conversion of CO2 emissions into valuable and environmentally responsible products.
This funding, allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will facilitate the development of technologies that can effectively transform captured carbon emissions into crucial fuels, building materials, and other essential carbon-based products.
“DOE’s investments in carbon conversion technology will support new economic opportunities and job creation, while providing lower-emissions carbon product alternatives for these industries at the same time,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of FECM.
The selected projects will focus on two key areas:
- Scaling electrochemical systems: This involves conducting large-scale testing of electrochemical systems designed to convert CO2 emissions into valuable products such as precursors for engineering polymers and resins, specialty chemicals, and commodity chemicals.
- Retrofitting existing facilities: Feasibility studies will be conducted to assess the potential for retrofitting refineries and petrochemical facilities to incorporate carbon conversion technologies.
The four selected projects include:
- Dioxide Materials Inc. (Boca Raton, Florida): This project will focus on scaling technology for the production of low-greenhouse gas ethanol and mevalonic acid through a combined electrolysis and bioprocessing approach.
- Terraforma Carbon LLC (State College, Pennsylvania): This project will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of capturing carbon and converting it to methanol by modeling a retrofit of Shell’s Norco refinery in Louisiana, utilizing molten salt-based capture technology.
Relevant: Five US Carbon Management Test Centers Selected For $101M DOE Funding
- Thiozen Inc. (Pasadena, California): This project will explore the use of hydrogen sulfide reforming technology to produce low-cost and low-emission methanol.
- Twelve Benefit Corp. (Berkeley, California): This project aims to accelerate the production of low-carbon chemicals and syngas by rapidly advancing the research, development, and deployment of its CO2 electrolyzers.
The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), operating under the purview of FECM, will oversee the management of these selected projects.
Read more: DOE To Support Technip Energies And LanzaTech With Up To $200M For CO2 To Ethylene Technology
