Integrated Process for Direct Air Capture of CO₂ and Electrochemical Conversion to Ethanol

This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between UT-Battelle, LLC and Reactwell, L.L.C. aimed to facilitate the development of an energy-efficient and cost-effective technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO₂) from ambient air and converts it electrochemically to ethanol. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO₂ offers the prospect of permanently lowering the atmospheric CO₂ concentration, providing economic and energy-efficient technologies can be developed and deployed at a large scale. DAC has the potential for high-capacity atmospheric CO₂ capture, the flexibility of placement anywhere on earth, and the generation of high-purity CO₂ streams. The most significant technical challenge with DAC is the very low atmospheric concentration of CO₂, thereby requiring sorbents that bind CO₂ quickly, strongly, and selectively against other components in the air. Integrating DAC with CO₂ conversion into useful chemicals, fuels, or materials can provide an economically feasible solution for mitigating climate change. As long as the carbon contained in these products is taken from the atmosphere and no additional carbon emissions result from their production, processing, and transportation, they can be considered carbon-neutral products. This CRADA facilitated the development of a new net-zero emission technology that closes the carbon cycle by combining DAC with the catalytic electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into ethanol.