Conversion Of Air Water and Sunlight to Transportation fuels

The objective of the proposed work is to develop a novel process for the conversion of CO2, water and renewable energy into transportation fuels. The work will combine the efforts of two companies: Dioxide Materials™, experts on using renewable energy (electricity) to convert CO2 and water into syngas; and Primus Green Energy, experts on converting syngas to gasoline. First, Dioxide Materials™’ patented electrochemical process will be used to convert CO2 to CO (and O2) with renewable electricity as an input. 3M’s patented electrochemical process will be used to create hydrogen. Then the mixture of CO and H2 (i.e., syngas) will be sent to Primus Green Energy’s patented process to produce gasoline. In Phase I, we will develop technology to scale Dioxide Materials™’s electrolyzers, and plan for a unit that combines the efforts of the three companies. If we are successful, we will have developed an economic way to convert CO2 into a viable transportation fuel using renewable energy. This advance will have several public benefits: - It reduces CO2 emissions. - The process will provide a viable route to renewable fuels that does not compete with the food supply. Biofuels have been nice additions to the U.S. fuel mix, but they compete with food production for land and water. This project can provide a source of renewable fuels that does not compete with the food supply. - It will provide a route to store renewable energy when it is produced, allowing intermittent renewable energy sources such as sun or wind to more easily interface to the grid. Key Words: Carbon Dioxide Utilization, Technology to combat climate change, renewable gasoline, synthetic fuels