The U.S. and several other countries worldwide are investing heavily in the development of and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies as a means of decarbonization. As several hard-to-abate industries strive to reduce their carbon emissions, many are looking to CCS technologies to help them mitigate their emissions, rather than cutting them at the source. The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has backed a wide range of CCS projects in recent years, supported by billions of dollars in funding. Once the CO2 is sequestered, it can either be stored underground or can be reused for a variety of applications. But what exactly are companies doing with the captured carbon?
Carbon Reutilization for Carbon-Heavy Essentials
A Congress-mandated report published in August shows that improved carbon utilization could help the U.S. achieve a net-zero scenario in line with national climate pledges. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s ‘Carbon Utilization Infrastructure, Markets, and Research and Development: A Final Report’ is the second report of a two-part study. The first assessed the state of infrastructure for CO2 transportation, use, and storage and the second identifies potential markets and commercialization opportunities for CO2.
The report found that, for hard-to-abate industries such as aviation fuel, chemicals, plastics, and construction materials, “carbon will need to be managed and utilized effectively, in a way that either prevents CO2 from entering the atmosphere or reuses it through circular processes that do not contribute additional emissions.”
While products produced using carbon dioxide are expected to continue being used in a net-zero future, greater research and development into carbon utilization could help significantly reduce emissions in these industries. The report found that the U.S. could lock captured or removed CO2 into some durable products to support decarbonization aims.
Emily Carter, the chair of the committee that wrote the report, explained that while we should electrify as much of the economy as possible, “we can’t talk about decarbonization for many aspects of civilization — namely the materials that we use, the food that we eat, the chemicals that we use, the pharmaceuticals that we need.” Carter suggested that carbon utilization could support the manufacturing of products that the world continues to rely on.
Federal Funding for Reusing Carbon Dioxide
The DoE is encouraging more companies in hard-to-abate industries to incorporate CCS technologies into operations, as well as use the sequestered carbon dioxide for a range of applications.
There is a limit to the amount of carbon dioxide that can be stored underground, which has encouraged the government and private sector to invest in the research and development of alternative CO2 uses. While the government hopes to eventually power even hard-to-abate industries with clean electricity or fuel, at present many industrial operations continue to be powered by fossil fuels. By using sequestered CO2, companies can use a cleaner version of the fuel and support a cyclical production and recycling process.
Ian Rowe, the division director for carbon dioxide conversion at DoE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, which is helping fund carbon reuse projects, explained, “There’s not going to be a non-carbon solution for those needs in the future, but we should make them from more sustainable forms of carbon… And carbon dioxide represents a feedstock that you can use.”
Making Plastic from Captured CO2 in Ohio
Quasar Energy Group, a waste-to-energy company in Ohio, is one of seven firms to be awarded a federal grant to innovatively reuse carbon dioxide as part of national decarbonization efforts. The firm designs and develops anaerobic digesters, in which bacteria break down manure, food waste, and other organic materials. While the digesters mainly produce methane, they are also capable of producing CO2.
Ohio is a U.S. hub for plastics production, with hundreds of companies across the state supporting manufacturing and distribution operations. Quasar Energy’s team has designed a process for making plastic that uses lipids from algae as a feedstock to produce polyurethane. Liquid effluent from the biodigester helps grow the algae and supply nutrients for it. Carbon dioxide from the biogester’s gas can also be used in the process. Quasar expects the process to cut CO2 emissions by at least 25% compared to using the existing technology to manufacture plastic.
Quasar has already seen success using this approach in the laboratory but will use the federal funding to continue to develop the technology and scale up operations for commercial testing.
Outlook
As the U.S. and many other countries around the globe strive to curb fossil fuel production in favor of greener alternatives, decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries continues to be extremely complex and difficult. This has led the U.S. government and private sector to invest heavily in CCS technologies, to help reduce carbon emissions. While much of the carbon waste is pumped underground, we are seeing increasing research and development into carbon reutilization. Reusing the CO2 that is captured from CCS activities could help clean up operations and support the manufacturing of essential items that continue to rely on fossil fuels for their production.
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