Systems‐level strategies for development and integration of novel CO2 capture and utilization technologies

 

Presented by Hanna Breunig - Research Scientist and Deputy Leader, Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Abstract: Carbon dioxide capture and utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) comprises both the large‐scale capture of CO2 (via direct capture from air, ocean, or point sources), functional utilization of concentrated CO2 for the production of value‐added products, and long term sequestration. A wide range of products ranging from low to high value can be generated from CO2 through CCU, but these products come at an energy price, and not all products will achieve net negative emissions (for example, conversion of fossil CO2 to liquid fuels). Selecting optimal combinations of capture, conversion technologies and target products or geologic sequestration, and then coupling these technologies with CO2 sources and the necessary energy infrastructure is an enormous challenge that has gone largely unaddressed. In this study, we develop system‐wide strategies for CCUS technologies that can offer negative emissions at meaningful scales. We apply techno‐economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to help identify emerging negative emissions technologies that can be implemented to capture CO2 from various dilute sources (air, ocean, other biogenic sources), as well as to understand potential technological bottlenecks in capture, utilization, and sequestration of these streams. We focus on those that are emerging from research efforts within the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (e.g., use of electrochemical methods for CO2 conversion, novel CO2 sorbents, such as metal organic frameworks, MOFs, and sequestration in basalt formations). Biography: Dr. Hanna Breunig is a Research Scientist and Deputy Leader in the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She holds a secondary joint appointment in the Climate and Ecosystem Science Division. Hanna specializes in systems analysis of early stage energy, water, and waste technologies. These include waste‐to‐energy/resource systems, circular economy, bioenergy, brine management, and gas (H2, CO2, CH4) capture, utilization, and storage technologies. She holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley.