Technology To Convert Renewable Energy to Liquids
ChE/COS Assistant Professor Magda Barecka was selected to lead a $986,200 DOE project managed by the ARPA-E GREENWELLS program for “Modular Electrochemical Ethanol Production Using Intermittent Power (Electricity).” She is pioneering new technology to convert dilute carbon dioxide into a concentrated ethanol product using intermittent renewable electricity.
ChE/COS Assistant Professor Magda Barecka was selected to lead a $986,200 project as part of $41 million in funding for 14 projects from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop technologies, Renewables-to-Liquids (RtL), for harnessing renewable energy sources.
The selected project teams will work to develop systems that operate at a renewable energy production site and use its electricity, carbon dioxide, and water to create liquids that can be used as renewable fuels or drop-in replacements for conventional fuels. DOE’s Moonshot Factory, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), will manage the projects through its Grid-free Renewable Energy Enabling New Ways to Economical Liquids and Long-term Storage (GREENWELLS) program.
Barecka’s project is for “Modular Electrochemical Ethanol Production Using Intermittent Power (Electricity).” She is pioneering new technology to convert dilute carbon dioxide into a concentrated ethanol product using intermittent renewable electricity. Most electrochemical technologies require higher than 95% pure carbon dioxide to create ethanol. The research approach uses carbon dioxide in concentrations similar to air (400 parts per million). The approach doesn’t require thermal steps in the procedure, making it easy to turn on and off the process according to when renewable energy is available.
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