An expert team, building real-world solutions
Lowering the cost of CO2 direct air capture (DAC)
The challenge
Direct air capture (DAC), a strategy for removing CO2 directly from the air, is a promising solution for reducing and eventually reversing our carbon emissions. However, current DAC technologies are not economically feasible and have operating costs between $300-1,500/tonne CO2.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon is developing a novel DAC technology that (i) uses alkali-based sorbent materials, (ii) directly integrates renewable sources of electricity, and (iii) does not require new manufacturing or special material supply chains for scale-up.
This compact, structured material system will achieve capture of CO2 with significant reduction of land usage as compared to existing DAC technologies.
Susteon is dedicating a team to rapidly develop this technology and enable DAC at a cost of less than $75/ton CO2.
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Integration of Atmospheric CO2 and Renewable Electricity to Produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
The challenge
The global aviation sector contributes approximately 11% of all transportation-related CO2 emissions and 3% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions. With the demand for aviation fuel expected to more than double by 2050 and triple by 2070, There is hence an urgent need to develop and deploy scalable technologies for sustainable aviation fuel production.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon “reactive” CO2 direct air capture (DAC) system is capable of capturing as well as converting CO2 from air into lower alcohols like methanol, which is a precursor for sustainable aviation fuel
This offers a potential carbon negative technology option to lower the aviation CO2 footprint.
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Creating renewable natural gas from the CO2 in air
The challenge
Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 from air is a promising “negative emissions technology.” However, for the captured CO2 to be utilized, normally it must first be purified, pressurized, and transported to a facility, using expensive infrastructure such as pipelines.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon is working with Columbia University to develop dual functional materials (DFM) which can not only capture CO2 from the air at substantially lower cost, but also convert the CO2 in the same reactor to produce renewable natural gas.
This renewable natural gas can be used for heating or electricity generation, followed by CO2 capture, with net-zero emissions.
The DFMs only require low-purity hydrogen gas to work, and so this process can be used close to sources of waste hydrogen (such as refineries).
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High Performance Solvent for Flue Gas CO2 Capture
The challenge
The combustion of fossil fuels for energy production is currently responsible for approximately 32 Gt/year of CO2 released into the atmosphere, or 60–65% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas generation is projected to grow at a rate of 2.7%, accounting for nearly 30% of total worldwide energy generation by 2040. Development of new strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from these power plants is desired.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon’s proprietary post-combustion CO2 capture solvent has the potential to capture >97% CO2 from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant flue gas. It can be used as a drop-in replacement for conventional amine solvent-based CO2 capture solvents.
This can reduce the cost of CO2 capture by 40% when compared to a reference NGCC power plant with carbon capture at the same carbon efficiency.
Efficient conversion of CO2 and propane using plasma
The challenge
More than 200 million tons of CO2 are emitted each year from the production of ethylene and propylene – the chemical building blocks of the plastics industry. We can produce these important materials more sustainably by utilizing CO2 as a starting material and integrating renewable electricity to generate the energy required.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon is developing a new technology based on catalytic non-thermal plasma (CNTP), which enables more energy-efficient production of chemicals, as well as sustainable aviation fuel.
CO2 can be directly utilized in this reactor at a rate of approx. 1 ton CO2 per ton propylene.
The reactor uses ethane or propane from natural gas and can be easily constructed anywhere, allowing us to directly utilize this resource wherever it is found in the U.S.
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Cheap, high-purity hydrogen gas with no CO2 emissions
The challenge
Hydrogen (H2) will play a critical role in a fully decarbonized, net-zero emissions economy. We currently have limited pathways to produce H2 at high purity (e.g., for fuel cell vehicles), at a low cost (< $1.50/kg), and without creating CO2 emissions along the way.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon is supporting several technology development projects to produce hydrogen from methane, the main component of natural gas, by using clean electricity.
The carbon from methane is used to create high-value carbon products, like carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, graphite, and silicon carbide, rather than being emitted as CO2.
The advances in green hydrogen generation will enable H2 costs as low as $1.50/kg along with CO2 emissions lower than 3 kg CO2 per kg H2 (compared to the average 10 kg CO2 per kg H2 when using the state-of-the-art technology).
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High-purity hydrogen from methane using plasma
The challenge
As hydrogen demand increases for industries such as transportation, heat and power, and manufacturing, we need clean approaches for producing H2 gas; 1 lb of H2 produced also generates 10 lb of CO2. Additionally, H2 can cost as much as $10-14/kg in remote or distributed locations.
Susteon’s solution
Susteon is leveraging plasma technology, originally developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to enable clean hydrogen production from methane with built-in CO2 capture.
The technology allows for modular, distributed construction – this compact H2 generator can be built at small-scale and wherever natural gas is available. The resulting costs could be as low as $3-4/kg H2, including the cost of CO2 capture.
The system is more energy-efficient than the state-of-the-art technologies: steam methane reforming (SMR), from fossil sources, and water electrolysis, using renewable sources.