A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlines a research agenda for improving the commercial viability of technologies that turn greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels into useful products such as fuels, construction materials and chemicals. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and Shell, the report urges the U.S. government and private sector to support research and development to advance thes e technologies and coordinate their efforts.
“Carbon utilization technologies have a role to play in future carbon management, offering the potential to reduce emissions and generate positive economic returns,” said David Allen, chair of the committee that conducted the study and Gertz Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources at the University of Texas, Austin.
Previous assessments have concluded roughly 3.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year could feasibly be utilized within the next several decades if certain technological advancements are achieved. Carbon utilization technologies could be instrumental in achieving a “circular carbon economy” in which some carbon waste gases are captured and converted into resources.
Some technologies, for example, use chemical and biological processes to transform carbon dioxide and methane into fuels, polymers and chemicals. Many of these processes are already operating commercially to produce high-value chemicals.
The report also recommends work to advance “enabling” technologies that will be needed for carbon utilization to be viable. For example, carbon and methane waste gases may contain contaminants such as nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, which can pose barriers to the utilization of the gases. Finding cost-effective methods for separating contaminants from usable waste gases will be important for carbon utilization, the report says. Improvements are also needed in tools used for evaluating the economic and environmental attributes of carbon utilization technologies.
The U.S. government and the private sector should support such research, the report says. Currently, research and development on aspects of carbon utilization is scattered throughout various federal research portfolios, including those administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. Coordination and communication among these programs could lead to more rapid advancements, the report says.
Federal science agencies should also coordinate carbon utilization research and development efforts with private sector activities in the U.S. and with international activities in the private and public sectors. Support for research and development should include technologies throughout different stages of maturity, from fundamental research through commercialization, and evaluate them using a consistent framework of economic and environmental criteria.
For more information, visit www. national-academies.org or call (202) 334-2000.
