Carbon Dioxide to Dimethyl Ether

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Program:
REFUEL
Award:
$1,200,000
Location:
East Hartford, Connecticut
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
06/09/2017 - 09/30/2018

Technology Description:

Skyre will develop a system to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from industrial or chemical processes, electrochemically convert it into methanol, and further transform the methanol into dimethyl ether (DME). DME can be stored and transported using existing infrastructure and can be converted into electricity to provide power for transportation and distributed energy generation. To convert CO2 to methanol, new catalysts that improve efficiency and lower costs will be developed that are highly selective and durable, building on the team's prior work with transition-metal-supported catalysts. The CO2 reduction technology is designed to be modular and scalable. The system does not require a continuous supply of power and can, therefore, use intermittent renewable energy sources. These technologies offer a path to better utilize domestic resources, providing long-term energy storage from wind and solar, and long-distance energy delivery from remote locations.

Potential Impact:

If successful, developments from REFUEL projects will enable energy generated from domestic, renewable resources to increase fuel diversity in the transportation sector in a cost-effective and efficient way.

Security:

The U.S. transportation sector is heavily dependent on petroleum for its energy. Increasing the diversity of energy-dense liquid fuels would bolster energy security and help reduce energy imports.

Environment:

Liquid fuels created using energy from renewable resources are carbon-neutral, helping reduce transportation sector emissions.

Economy:

Fuel diversity reduces exposure to price volatility. By storing energy in hydrogen-rich liquid fuels instead of pure hydrogen in liquid or gaseous form, transportation costs can be greatly reduced, helping make CNLFs cost-competitive with traditional fuels.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Grigorii Soloveichik
Project Contact:
Dr. Trent M. Molter
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
trent.molter@sustainableinnov.com

Partners

Northeastern University
Advent Technologies, Inc.

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Release Date:
04/26/2016