University of Minnesota (UMN)

The University of Minnesota will design a cell-free biocatalytic system that will reduce CO2 efficiently into formate, an important feedstock for chemicals and fuels, with energy supplied from electricity. Renewable electricity is now competitive with and in many instances less expensive than fossil fuel-derived electricity, but its storage remains challenging. Energy storage in chemical bonds through electricity-driven carbon reduction offers higher energy densities and greater safety and transportability than batteries. The efficient electrochemical reduction of kinetically and thermodynamically stable CO2 into a range of chemicals requires significant innovation. If successful, the University of Minnesota will deliver two major products for commercialization: (1) a portable CO2 capture technology and (2) formate as stand-alone chemical or for conversion in value-added compounds.

The application of biology to sustainable uses of waste carbon resources for the generation of energy, intermediates, and final products---i.e., supplanting the “bioeconomy”—provides economic, environmental, social, and national security benefits and offers a promising means of carbon management.