I-Corps: Low-Carbon Chemical and Fuel Production Through the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Industries in America continue to throw away millions of CO2 into the atmosphere. This team aims to develop a modular, low-capex reactor that converts CO2 into valuable fuels and chemicals that are cost-competitive with conventional products. At Stanford, the NSF-funded graduate work demonstrated electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ECO2R) into 16 different fuels and chemicals. The top eight products represent nearly $400 billion in global market size. An ECO2R device could bolt onto any existing source of industrial CO2 emissions, and with only water and electricity as inputs, transform CO2 onsite into some of the world?s highest-volume chemical products. The goals of this project are to identify and validate the customers, key partners, channels and revenue streams the team would need to take the proposed technology to market. The team plans to interview various CO2 emitters such as corn ethanol plants, steel manufacturers and oil refineries. The team will target liquid fuels initially, specifically ethanol, because it has identified a strong value proposition in a large initial target market, the technological feasibility for ethanol is high, and the economics for ECO2R are compelling relative to conventional ethanol manufacture