Oxygenated Fuel Products from Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams

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Due to increasing rates of fossil fuel consumption, atmospheric CO2 continues to reach unprecedented levels, causing concern regarding climate change and ocean acidification. To ensure the well-being of Canadians (and indeed, all global citizens), innovative approaches that engage sustainable practice must be adopted to lessen society's footprint. Carbon capture and utilization will be essential to help global economies to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C. This problem calls for a skilled research team devoted to exploiting the physical sciences to unearth collaborative space in clean energy, enhancing Canada's reputation for excellence. This NSERC Alliance Grant will cement a relationship between Prof. Marcus W. Drover at the University of Windsor and Imperial Oil Ltd., enabling knowledge transfer between one of Canada's largest energy producers and an early-career researcher who is looking to provide new tools for industrial use in the sustainable energy marketplace. These studies target the direct reduction of CO2-to-oxygenated fuels - a desirable transformation, with significant importance to the development of a carbon-neutral economy in Canada. The resulting oxygenated products are valuable - they can be used in fuel cells, combusted, or mixed with gasoline. Such oxygenates can also be used to enhance fuel combustion and thereby reduce exhaust emissions - an area in which Imperial Oil has vested interest. Overall, this proposal pairs interests of Prof. Drover, Imperial Oil Ltd., and the Government of Canada to develop clean and sustainable energy resources.