With 195 nations signing the Paris Climate Accord, the world has acknowledged anthropogenic induced climate change and the need for action with EU’s approach to action based on the strategic energy technology plan (SET Plan). While fossil fuels accounts for contributes the vast majority of the anthropogenic effects from CO2 emissions, they are used in diverse, but essential fields, such as heating, transport, power generation, industry and even as the primary raw material for the entire chemicals industry. While many of these fields have established sustainable options, there are others, which are at early stages of development which need rapid development to form the complete backbone of the energy system by 2030 and 2050. One of the most EU essential and challenging areas in need of development is the conversion to a sustainable chemicals industry.
SELECTCO2 aimed to contribute to the electrification of the chemicals industry through the development of highly selective and efficient devices for the conversion of CO2 to high value products at low temperatures and pressures. It is well known in the chemicals industry that costs due to separations can amount to 60-80% of the total costs of the chemicals. This same general cost percentage holds in bio-based chemicals as well. Electrochemical CO2 Reduction (ECO2R) allows the unique ability to start with a single reactant in CO2 and use catalysis to build up selectively to a given molecule. Direct conversion to a specific product allows for the mitigation or even elimination of separation costs and can greatly reduce the costs of producing a given chemical.
To create immediate impact and to provide the backbone for the emerging sustainable chemicals and fuel industry, we we created lab scale devices capable of electrochemically converting CO2 selectively into either carbon monoxide (>90%), ethanol/acetaldehyde, (>80 %), or ethylene (>90%) at high thermodynamic efficiencies (> 40%). To achieve this SELECTCO2 has a number of Objectives relating to this.
The first objective relates to improved catalysts for carbon monoxide, ethanol/acetaldehyde, and ethylene. The second objective is to develop stable gas diffusion layers to support the catalysts and allow efficient mass transfer of reactants and products. The third objective is to develop membranes and ionomers to allow for efficient ion transfer to and from the catalysts. The fourth objective is to develop accurate mass transfer models to maximize the rate of electrochemical CO2 reduction. The final objective is to analyze the societal implications of this technology.
