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

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力在于提供亟需的决策支持工具，以推动美国迈向二氧化碳(CO2)净零排放经济。普林斯顿净零美国的研究表明，要将美国转变为净零经济，每年至少需要9亿吨的二氧化碳封存，按产量当量计算，净零经济是美国石油产量的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。能够有力地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；美国经济向二氧化碳净零排放转型是我们这一代人最大的财富创造机会之一。拟议的二氧化碳国家捕获机会和就绪性数据软件将使用户能够确定可以转化为碳捕获和封存(CCS)项目的有利可图的二氧化碳来源(例如水泥制造商和乙醇精炼厂)。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，提供全国任何预期的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。要成功完成项目，需要对多个学科的进展进行新的整合：1)大数据融合，2)二氧化碳捕集流特性，3)生命周期评估，4)高级技术经济评估，5)软件工程。此外，该项目还将通过创建动态结果来促进现状，这些动态结果可以根据需要轻松地重新生成(例如，部署新技术或制定政策)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势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.