U.S. Department of Energy Announces Nearly $15 Million for Carbon Dioxide Utilization Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has announced up to $15 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002186, Novel Concepts for the Utilization of Carbon Dioxide from Utility and Industrial Sources.

This FOA seeks applications that propose to develop and test technologies that can utilize carbon dioxide (CO₂)—from power systems or other industrial sources—as the primary feedstock to reduce emissions and create valuable products to offset the cost of capture. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the projects, which will support DOE’s Carbon Utilization Program.

The FOA focuses on three areas of interest (AOIs):

AOI 1: Synthesis of Value-Added Organic Products

Projects under this AOI will focus on research and development (R&D) to convert waste CO₂ from the combustion of coal, natural gas, and industrial sources into value-added products. Applications to this area should be directed toward the development of new synthesis pathways and catalysts to produce specialty chemicals and polymers that enhance the product’s process performance.

AOI 2: Production of Inorganic Materials: Solid Carbon Products

Projects under this AOI will support field-scale testing/development of innovative technologies that use CO₂ to produce inorganic materials; specifically solid carbons such as carbon black, carbon nanotubes, synthetic graphite, and carbon nanofibers. Success will be quantified by conducting a life cycle and techno-economic analysis commensurate with the readiness of the proposed technology.

AOI 3: Integrated CO₂ Capture with Algae

Projects under this AOI will focus specifically on the use of fossil-derived flue gas or equivalent for the cultivation of microalgae or blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) in outdoor ponds or photobioreactors. R&D concepts proposed here should holistically address CO₂ capture, conditioning, transport, and transfer to the algae medium in order to maximize algal CO₂ uptake and minimize the cost of CO₂ delivery.

DOE anticipates selecting up to 10 projects for this FOA. The closing date is February 20, 2020. Read more details here.

The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the risk and cost of advanced fossil energy technologies and further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the? Office of Fossil Energy website? or? sign up? for FE news announcements.? More information about the National Energy Technology Laboratory is available on the NETL website.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, press release, 2020-01-07.