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Breadcrumb

  1. Research
  2. Sustainable Energy
  3. Fossil Energy
  4. Carbon Management
  5. Carbon Utilization

Carbon Utilization

Separations chemistry and catalysis
optimize costs for CO2 conversion

  • Subsurface Energy Systems
  • Carbon Management
    • Carbon Capture
    • Carbon Storage
    • Carbon Utilization
  • Advanced Hydrocarbon Conversion
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Carbon dioxide utilization involves converting carbon dioxide captured from industrial or atmospheric sources into value-added products. The process plays a role in the overall carbon management toolkit. However, utilization pathways are not equal, and life-cycle CO2 emissions vary widely. Incorporating CO2 into durable products like cement or structural components permanently isolates CO2 from the atmosphere but reflects a relatively small potential market. “Upgrading” highly stable free-phase CO2 molecules into fuels using renewable energy sources incurs a heavy thermodynamic penalty but generates high-value, market-ready fuels.

Similar to the properties of soda, liquid solvents can efficiently capture and convert CO2 from coal power plants. Researchers at PNNL explain this process and how this method can turn captured carbon into plastic or fuel.

PNNL and carbon utilization

PNNL  brings expertise in separations, catalysis, systems integration, and engineering to develop CO2 utilization pathways.

Under PNNL’s BES mission, we discovered that CO2 is much more reactive in the solvent than when it is removed at the end of the full capture process. Combining this fundamental discovery with our expertise in catalysis,. we have been able to convert CO2 in this more reactive state directly to methanol. PNNL’s team is currently collaborating with our colleagues at Southern California Gas to commercialize and deploy this integrated CO2 capture and conversion to methanol (IC3M) technology.

Like sling-shotting around the moon to reduce fuel use on space missions, the IC3M approach uses thermodynamics to our advantage. Reacting the CO2 while in its captured state eliminates the energy required to regenerate the CO2 solvent, while also reducing the amount of energy required to upgrade the CO2 to a high value commodity.

Contacts

Casie Davidson
Manager, Carbon Management and Fossil Energy Market Sector
casie.davidson@pnnl.gov
509-372-6259
David Heldebrant
Laboratory Fellow; Team Leader, Separations Materials
david.heldebrant@pnnl.gov
(509) 372-6359

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