Advanced Chemical and Biological Approaches

Recycling or reuse of CO2 from energy systems would be an attractive alternative to storage of CO2. The goal of this program area is to reduce the cost and energy required to chemically and/or biologically convert CO2 into either commercial products that are inert and long-lived or stable solid compounds. 

Two promising chemical pathways are magnesium carbonate and CO2 clathrate, an ice-like material. Both provide quantum increases in volume density compared to gaseous CO2.

As an example of the potential of chemical pathways, the entire global emissions of carbon in 1990 could be contained as magnesium carbonate in a space 10 kilometers by 10 kilometers by 150 meters.

Concerning biological systems, incremental enhancements to the carbon uptake of photosynthetic systems could have a significant positive effect. Also, harnessing naturally occurring, non-photosynthetic microbiological processes capable of converting CO2 into useful forms, such as methane and acetate,could represent a technology breakthrough. An important advantage of biological systems is that they do not require pure CO2 and do not incur costs for separation, capture, and compression of CO2 gas.

This program area will seek to develop novel and advanced concepts for capture, reuse, and storage of CO2 from energy production and utilization systems based on, but not limited to:

• Biological systems;
• Advanced catalysts for CO2 or CO conversion;
• Novel solvents,sorbents,membranes and thin films for gas separation;
• Engineered photosynthesis systems;
• Non-photosynthetic mechanisms for CO2 fixation (methanogenesis and acetogenesis);
• Genetic manipulation of agricultural and tree to enhance CO2 sequestering potential;
• Advanced decarbonization systems; and
• Biomimetic systems.