SBIR Phase I: A Decision-Support Tool for Identifying Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture Opportunities for the Nation’s Energy Transition

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供急需的决策支持工具，以推动美国实现净零二氧化碳（CO2）排放经济。普林斯顿大学的美国净零研究表明，要使该国过渡到净零经济，每年至少需要0.9亿吨的二氧化碳封存，这是该国石油产量的1.3倍。实现这一壮举的许多重大挑战之一是识别和分析来自美国各地排放者的可捕获二氧化碳流。能够有力应对这一挑战的软件将为社会和国家带来好处。例如，气候变化被认为是人类和美国安全面临的最大威胁;将美国经济过渡到净零二氧化碳排放是我们这一代人最大的财富创造机会之一。拟议的CO2国家捕获机会和准备数据软件将使用户能够确定CO2的来源（例如，水泥制造商和乙醇精炼厂），可以盈利的碳捕获和封存（CCS）项目。该数据库将通过将最新的公共数据和科学研究整合到一个最终用户平台中，提供全国任何未来CCS项目的盈亏平衡二氧化碳捕获成本、技术准备水平（TRL）和生命周期二氧化碳排放量。 成功完成项目需要多个学科的先进技术的新集成：1）大数据融合，2）CO2捕获流表征，3）生命周期评估，4）先进的技术经济评估，以及5）软件工程。此外，该项目还将通过创建可以根据需要轻松重新生成的动态结果（例如，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in providing much-needed decision-support tool to progress the United States towards a net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions economy. The Princeton Net Zero America study suggests that a of minimum 0.9 gigatons /year of CO2 sequestration is required to transition the country to a net-zero economy, which is 1.3 times larger than the country’s oil production on a volume-equivalent basis. One of the many substantial challenges to achieving this feat is identifying and profiling capturable CO2 streams from emitters across the United States. Software that could robustly address this challenge would provide benefits to society and the country. For example, climate change is recognized as the largest threat facing humanity and the security of the United States; Transitioning the US economy to net-zero CO2 emissions is one of the largest wealth creation opportunities of our generation. The proposed CO2 National Capture Opportunities and Readiness Data software will enable users to identify sources of CO2 (e.g., cement manufacturers and ethanol refineries) that could be profitably turned into carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects. The database would provide the break-even CO2 capture cost, technology readiness level (TRL), and lifecycle CO2 emissions of any prospective CCS project across the country by integrating the latest public data and scientific research into a single end-user platform. A novel integration of advances in multiple disciplines is required for successful project completion: 1) big data fusion, 2) CO2 capture stream characterization, 3) lifecycle assessment, 4) advanced techno-economic assessments, and 5) software engineering. Additionally, this project will also advance the status-quo by creating dynamic results that can be easily re-generated as needed (e.g., with new technologies deployed or policies enacted).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.