Reinventing Carbon Dioxide

Reinventing Carbon Dioxide

December 04, 2009

Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief

Recession may stymie the rate of economic commerce. But it does nothing to inhibit the human mind. At issue now are rising pollution rates in combination with a declining fossil fuel base, both of which are causes that scientists and engineers are dedicating time and resources.

Turning to coal, the focus has been on reducing the level of toxins while also trying to capture and bury the carbon dioxide that it releases. Now, though, attention is turning to recycling the heat-trapping emission so that it can later be used as a transport fuel. The idea is being pursued by both national and private laboratories. It's all possible. But differences exist as to when wide-scale commercialization will happen.

"We did introduce a prototype in March 2009 and we are now making small amounts of fuel," says Byron Elton, chief executive of Santa Barbara-based Carbon Sciences. "However, the difference between making milliliters and gallons is big. There will be roadblocks. But once we develop the process, we will have the commercial package."

Notice, largely, has been on carbon capture and sequestration where coal-dependent countries are trying to make the most of use out of abundant supplies. Lately, carbon recycling has come to fore as multiple global companies have applied for patents. Toward that end, the Obama administration has included the recycling of carbon dioxide as part of its clean coal efforts under the previously enacted stimulus plan. Ditto for Canada and China that are working on some zero-emissions power plants.

If a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions from power plants could be reused, that could help meet 30 percent of the world's liquid fuel demand by 2030, experts say. If that happened, the global community could reduce both its emissions and fossil fuel usage.

Carbon Sciences says that its technology can work with the existing infrastructure -- something that it says it will do on a large scale in the next two years. As such, it would locate its own facilities next to coal plants where they would take the carbon and eventually turn it into gasoline. If such a facility were put next to a 500 megawatt coal unit, for example, it would cost about $250 million.

Sounds expensive. But the same plant is emitting 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide a day. Instead of going into the atmosphere, Elton with Carbon Sciences says that it would be used to make 750,000 gallons of gasoline. An oil refinery, by comparison, would cost billions to construct. And as more entrepreneurs see the potential, they would then enter the field and help bring down the price of the technology.

"What's exciting about this invention is that it will result in fossil fuels being used at least twice, meaning less carbon dioxide being put into the atmosphere and a reduction of the rate that fossil fuels are pulled out of the ground," says Rich Diver, inventor of a similar technology with the Sandia National Laboratory.

Moving Up

The process whereby carbon dioxide is converted into hydrocarbons that can later be re-combusted as transport fuels involves using lots of energy. That drives up the price tag. But some new processes that are less energy-intensive have come along. Researchers are saying that this might make the science more viable.

According to Elton, the chief obstacles to commercialization are the "enzymes" and the "kinetics." Scientists are now working to prolong to the lives of the enzymes so that the process becomes more efficient and less expensive. In other words, the longer they live, the more stuff gets converted. The same experts are also trying to shorten the time it takes to make the gas, or the kinetics. It once took as much as 10 hours. The goal is to get that down to 10 minutes.

"We know this will be commercial as we continue to scale the process," says Elton, who in three months will announce where his company will put its first recycling plant.

As for Sandia National Labs, it is building a prototype to turn carbon dioxide into transportation fuels using concentrated solar power. The Los Alamos Renewable Energy, now part of Solarec and Sundrop Fuels, had been working on a similar project.

Ellen Stechel, manager of Sandia's fuels and energy transitions unit, says that the concept of turning carbon dioxide into fuels is not new. But she adds that many experts thought it would never be technically or economically practical. Sandia, though, never gave up and has come up with what it says is a feasible two-step process.

For example, Sandia says that after coal is burned, the carbon dioxide would be captured and reduced to carbon monoxide using its technology. That would then become the starting point for making gasoline, jet fuel, methanol, or any type of liquid fuel. That fuel could then be transported through the existing pipeline infrastructure or could be put into a truck and hauled to a gas station.

"This invention, though probably a good 15 to 20 years away from being on the market, holds a real promise of being able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while preserving options to keep using fuels we know and love," says Stechel "Recycling carbon dioxide into fuels provides an attractive alternative to burying it."

Indeed, with the U.S. Department of Energy forecasting a 39 percent increase in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, activists are pressing for solutions. Capturing and burying the emissions is one idea. Recycling them is another. One has gotten much of the attention. The other is starting to do so.

Recycling is not yet ready for prime time. But as more national governments investigate and fund such carbon projects, the idea is likely to win broader acceptance.