Closing the carbon cycle: optimization of direct air capture process and conversion of ambient CO2 into synthetic fuel

随着大气二氧化碳水平持续上升，要实现2°C的目标（2015年在巴黎宣布），就需要在减少温室气体（GHG）排放的颠覆性技术上取得突破。通过与我们的工业合作伙伴（Carbon Engineering）合作，我们正在改进通过直接空气捕获（DAC）吸收二氧化碳所需的技术，以减少飞机，卡车和船舶等分布式来源的排放。CE在不列颠哥伦比亚省的斯夸米什米什建造并运营了一个DAC示范工厂，目标是每天捕获500公斤二氧化碳。第一个商业工厂计划在加拿大建造，捕获的二氧化碳将用于生产低碳燃料。CO2到燃料途径的最具挑战性的科学和技术障碍包括实现DAC过程的高工厂效率，以及开发用于将CO2转化为燃料前体的可靠且具有成本效益的模型（即，CO）。目前，准备程度最高的CO2减排技术是逆水煤气变换（rWGS）反应和低温电解槽中CO2的电化学转化。然而，低转换效率加上高成本仍然是商业化的障碍。 * 拟议的研究旨在降低成本并提高空气-燃料转换的效率。我们提出了三个相互关联的研究主题：A）DAC工厂效率优化，B）通过rWGS反应将CO2转化为CO，以及C）电化学CO2还原以产生燃料前体。

As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, reaching the 2°C targets (announced in Paris in 2015) will require breakthroughs in disruptive technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In collaboration with our industrial partner (Carbon Engineering) we are improving the technologies required to absorb CO2 through Direct Air Capture (DAC) to reduce emissions from distributed sources, e.g. airplanes, trucks, and ships. CE has built and is operating a DAC demonstration plant in Squamish, BC, with the goal to capture 500 kg CO2 per day. The first commercial plant is planned for construction in Canada, and the captured CO2 will be used for the production of low carbon fuels.****The most challenging scientific and technical barriers for the CO2-to-fuels pathway include achieving high plant efficiency for the DAC process, and developing a reliable and cost efficient model for CO2 conversion into fuel precursors (i.e., CO). Currently, the CO2 reduction technologies with the highest readiness level are the reverse water-gas-shift (rWGS) reaction , and the electrochemical conversion of CO2 in low temperature electrolyzers. However, low conversion efficiency coupled with high costs reamain barriers for commercialization. ****The proposed research aims to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of air-to-fuel conversion. We propose three interrelated research themes: A) DAC plant efficiency optimization, B) CO2 to CO conversion via rWGS reaction, and C) electrochemical CO2 reduction to produce fuel precursors.