National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: 4 Advanced Geochemical Methods for Sequestering Carbon
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×

5
Novel Niches

INTRODUCTION

The objective of the Novel Niches sessions at the workshop was to explore potentially practical niche technologies for CO2 conversion to useful products (including moderate to large-scale production of plastics and fuels), for CO2 removal and sequestration from flue gases, for its removal from the atmosphere and storage, and for noncarbon energy production processes other than “conventional” energy technologies such as nuclear, biomass, and various renewable energy technologies. Important opportunities may exist either for the development of a novel concept of sequestration or for ways of applying new science and technology from areas far removed from current CO2 sequestration efforts. These opportunities may occur in CO2 separation, CO2 capture, CO2 storage, CO2 recycling, or CO2 conversion into useful commercial products.

For the most part, the discussions in the Novel Niches sessions concentrated on novel concepts involving CO2 recycling and CO2 products as well as on new scientific and technological means to achieve these goals. Also, the notion of a “niche” opportunity was thought of as an area that might contribute to ameliorating at least a small part of the carbon management issue but would not necessarily be the major approach to managing or “solving” the carbon problem (i.e., not a “silver bullet”). Thus, if a particular niche application could address the carbon problem in some small degree, the application of several niche technologies could make a significant contribution.

One main thrust of discussion concerned the general area of biomass production and use. Ideas were put forth on a number of possible new ways to enhance CO2 uptake from the atmosphere by manipulating plant genetics, enzymes, microbes, cyanogens, and catalytic pathways.

Another area of potential advancement is that of the design of advanced catalysts (using nanotechnology) to allow carbon sequestration on an accelerated, less energy-intensive basis by promoting various carbon-based chemical reactions. The potential for new CO2 separation technologies involving absorption on advanced-technology activated fibers was proposed as a way to reduce the energy cost of CO2 capture and regeneration. (Also see Chapter 2, “Advanced Separations Techniques.”)

Finally, the Novel Niches subgroup noted that, although this is not a technology related to carbon management, more accurate measurements of carbon fluxes between terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric reservoirs would enable better understanding of the carbon cycle. Of particular merit would be a better understanding of the potential to optimize the percentage of energy and carbon capture of the total energy and carbon flux in the immediate vicinity of growing terrestrial and marine systems. An enhanced understanding of the carbon cycle would offer the potential for advances in carbon flux manipulation that would improve opportunities for terrestrial and marine carbon sequestration.

The wide-ranging discussions of the Novel Niches sessions were organized in four areas in which there appear to be opportunities for carbon management if breakthroughs, improved scientific understanding, and new technology applications are developed. The four

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×

areas are (1) biomass management, (2) catalytic and/or photolytic CO2 reduction, (3) biocatalysts for CO2 binding and reduction, and (4) technology opportunities. The following sections describe the basic concepts, discuss their potential significance, and indicate areas in which research presents opportunities for breakthroughs.

BIOMASS MANAGEMENT

Terrestrial sequestration of carbon by biomass production is an approach for sequestering significant amounts of CO2. Sequestration through biomass offers the opportunity for CO2 to be recycled through fuel utilization or value-added products or for CO2 to be directly sequestered. Although biomass production systems currently exist, advances in the utilization of biomass for sequestration could have a significant impact on the adoption of this technology, since biomass processes offer the prospect of obtaining a high-concentration CO2 stream from the processing of the methane or higher-molecular-weight compounds. These feedstocks would arise from aerobic or anaerobic biodigestion of biomass, gasification of biomass with subsequent chemical processing, or extraction of oils or solids from biomass for direct use or subsequent chemical processing. The products that could result from biomass-based processes include useful fuels such as methane, liquid ketones for hydrogenation into transportation fuels, and novel cellulose sheets. In addition, biomass is a possible means of producing a condensed phase of CO2 that could be sequestered directly in the ground leading to a net removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Suggestions of novel means of drastically reducing the capital cost of a biomass plant were presented.

This area of biomass management is of importance for the following reasons:

  • Research directed at novel approaches for increasing biomass production, improving processing, and enhancing utilization and sequestration would make a significant contribution to enhancing this technology.

  • Recent advances in modern biology, including advances in genomic sciences, provide new and promising approaches for enhancing biomass production, enhancing biomass processing, and producing novel products.

Research Opportunities

Areas in which research presents opportunities for breakthroughs in biomass management include the following:

  • There is the opportunity to capitalize on advances in genomic science to develop a basic understanding of the biology of plants, which could lead to the development of approaches that will have a significant impact on biomass production. Research would include studies of basic mechanisms of CO2 fixation, manipulation of plant respiration, altering the way in which carbon is partitioned to different parts and structures of plants, and enhancement of nitrogen use efficiency.

  • Improvements are needed in the processing of biomass into either fuel or products, including opportunities offered by genomics, innovations in low-cost fermentation processes, or other conversion methods (e.g., thermal-chemical

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×

conversion). Particularly needed are improvements—specifically reductions—in the following:

  • The capital cost and complexity of the equipment, particularly that arising from the need for biological isolation,

  • The life-cycle energy required to produce fuels or products,

  • The amount of non-raw-material inputs (e.g., nutrients), and

  • The fraction of carbon that is respired versus that converted to products.

  • Biomass also offers the opportunity to sequester CO2. It is possible that novel approaches for innovative sequestration processes could be developed and integrated with these methods. In particular, major opportunities exist for using microbes for enhanced, low-cost cellulose production with polymeric materials as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics.

CATALYTIC AND/OR PHOTOLYTIC REDUCTION OF CO2

The basic notion of catalytic and/or photolytic reduction of CO2 is to use inorganic catalysis or photosynthetic processes, possibly including photoelectric effects, to directly reduce CO2 and water to form fuels such as methane (which could be used as fuel for heating and/or transportation) or higher-value carbon compounds (e.g., methanol, ketones, aldehydes, and acids) in a process with low capital and operating costs. Direct sunlight is envisioned as the source of the energy for the CO2 reduction. The CO2 may be in concentrated form as a pressurized high-density fluid from capture and transport processes, or it may be highly dilute as in the atmosphere. In a virtually all-electric economy, many forms of direct manufacture of electricity including photovoltaic energy would have significant advantages and would significantly reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. However, the photolytic reduction of carbon dioxide might still be used to make starting materials from carbon and to make carbon-based fuels to whatever extent they are used. Carbon-based fuels would have significant storage and transportation advantages over electricity.

The application of a large-scale, single-cell photosynthetic culture has new potential for CO2 utilization through the body of research carried out in the last several decades. Single-cell culture processes could be improved by employing more effective reactor designs and advanced light-capturing technologies. The production of single-cell microorganisms for useful polymeric products offers potential for a new CO2-based utilization.

Successful research in this area is of importance for the following reasons:

  • Present photovoltaic devices demonstrate solar energy collection efficiencies per unit of area that are greater than that of photosynthesis. It is recognized that this greater collection efficiency comes at the expense of a much greater capital cost. That may well need to become the focus of the research.

  • Success would lead to a fuel or higher-value hydrocarbon that could be used instead of fossil-based hydrocarbons in transportation fuels or chemical feedstocks.

  • The technical, environmental, and economic challenges of sequestration would be avoided.

  • The production of a hydrocarbon fuel or higher-value hydrocarbon would enable the equivalent of storage and transportation of sunlight energy, which is otherwise

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×

discontinuous and not necessarily available on an as-needed basis at a particular point of use.

Research Opportunities

Areas in which research presents opportunities for breakthroughs in the catalytic and/or photolytic reduction of CO2 include the following:

  • Inorganic catalysis studies leading to the right combination of materials and surface interactions to accomplish CO2 reduction while supplying the necessary energy input at the surface and not in the bulk phase, and application of nanotechnology surface construction techniques to achieve sufficient selectivity;

  • Devices that have low capital cost that capture sunlight energy and simultaneously channel that energy only to the catalytic surface;

  • Prevention of reoxidation of the produced hydrocarbon back to CO2 in the presence of the coproduced oxygen; and

  • Photosynthetic microbial fixation of CO2 at the surface with production of hydrocarbons, followed by subsurface sequestration of waste biomass through nucleation of metal carbonates.

BIOCATALYSTS FOR CO2 BINDING AND REDUCTION

A wide variety of microorganisms and their enzymes perform diverse chemical reactions that can be used for the binding and reduction of CO2 from the atmosphere. Two new scientific developments in this field offer the opportunity to dramatically enhance the binding and affinity for CO2 and the rate of reduction of CO2 into an array of useful biochemicals. First, a wide variety of extremophiles (i.e., microbes that can grow at either high pH or low pH, high temperature or low temperature, at high salt, or that catabolize unusual substances such as CO, or metal salts) have been discovered. These organisms produce “extremozymes” that are stable and active under harsh process conditions. Second, the advent of molecular biological tools enables the biotechnologist not only to clone and overexpress these proteins in industrial hosts but to utilize site-directed and random mutagenesis to dramatically enhance the affinity of CO2 binding and the rate of its conversion into useful biochemicals. Furthermore, the newest technology that has emerged enables the custom design of a combined CO2-binding and CO2-reducing enzyme system using protein fusion technologies.

A more efficient and rapid conversion of atmospheric CO2 into a variety of reduced biochemicals can enable the following:

  • The utilization of these extremophile genes and enzymes in biomass systems or biofilter systems (e.g., immobilized microbe or enzyme bioreactors) to consume CO2 from the atmosphere or smokestacks or flue gases;

  • The production of plant polymers from CO2 such as cellulose, starch, and polyesters for application to high-volume markets; and

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
  • The production of a wide variety of higher-value biochemicals by microbial CO2 reduction, including ethanol and other organic alcohols, amino acids, succinic acid and other organic acids, and other polyesters.

Research Opportunities

Areas in which research presents opportunities for breakthroughs in biocatalysts for CO2 binding and reduction include the following:

  • Characterization of CO2 binding and reducing enzymes and their genes from extremophiles;

  • Enhancement of enzymatic CO2 binding efficiency, CO2 reduction rates, enzyme stability, and acceptor substrate range by protein engineering techniques;

  • Design of customized CO2 binding and reduction biocatalysts composed of multiple enzymes using protein fusion technologies; and

  • Investigation of opportunities offered by genomics and proteomics to improve microbial processes.

TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES

There are niche opportunities to diversify and improve major technologies for CO2 management. These range from CO2 separation methods to accelerating the rate of sequestration or conversion of CO2 to other materials. Niche technologies will expand and strengthen the portfolio of methods currently under development and offer potential for substantially higher efficiencies in fossil fuel use. The discussions in the Novel Niches sessions identified research opportunities with significant potential that are described below. One area identified, engineering systems analysis for optimum CO2 reduction or sequestration, is a crosscutting opportunity and is discussed in Chapter 6, Crosscutting Issues.

Research Opportunities

The following niche technologies do not easily fit in any of the previous categories but may offer potentially large reductions in CO2 emissions:

  • Separating carbon and hydrogen from coal. This approach covers processes and concepts to differentiate solid carbon from hydrogen while avoiding coal combustion. The hydrogen would be used as fuel while the carbon would be used to produce carbon-based building and structural materials—for example, to substitute for cement and steel. Separation could be accomplished by coking, for example. The separated carbon could then be used to produce high-tensile-strength material, such as carbon fiber beams for a steel substitute, or high-compression material formed into carbon bricks for building and structural construction.

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
  • “Zero” emission processing. This technology complements the process developments occurring in DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy Vision 21 Program by looking for new, closed-loop fuel production/electricity production cycles that involve essentially no pollutant emissions.

  • Direct flue gas treatment. This area is crucial for application to commercial fossil-fuel combustion processes. There are methods that should be explored, including flue gas biofiltration or advanced CO2 hydrate formation. (Also see Chapter 2, “Advanced Separations Techniques.”)

  • Removal of CO2 from ambient air. Alternative methods for low-cost, efficient removal of CO2 from the air may be feasible using biofiltration combined with wind-induced airflow through the filter. This area merits exploration as an alternative to biomass production. (Also see Chapter 2, “Advanced Separations Techniques.”)

Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 20
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 21
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 22
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 23
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 24
Suggested Citation:"5 Novel Niches." National Research Council. 2003. Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10699.
×
Page 25
Next: 6 Crosscutting Issues »
Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products: Workshop Report Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $29.00 Buy Ebook | $23.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

The National Research Council's (NRC's) Committee on Novel Approaches to the Management of Greenhouse Gases from Energy Systems held a workshop at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California, on February 12-14, 2003, to identify promising lines of research that could lead to currently unforeseen breakthroughs in the management of carbon from energy systems. The information identified by participants in the workshop will be used by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) to award grants for new research in carbon management.

During the workshop, invited participants from a variety of disciplines contributed their expertise and creativity to addressing the problem of carbon management. The ideas developed during the workshop were synthesized into this report by the committee, which oversaw the organization and execution of the workshop. However, this workshop summary does not contain any committee conclusions or recommendations, but simply reports on research areas that were identified as promising during the workshop discussions. The purpose of the workshop, as noted, was to identify novel approaches to the management of carbon from energy systems.

The workshop is part of a project conducted by the NRC for DOE's Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE). DOE/FE will consider the workshop report as it develops a solicitation to be issued in spring 2003. The solicitation will call for research proposals on enabling science and technology research on novel approaches for the management of carbon from energy systems.

Chapters 2 through 6 of this report summarize the most promising new ideas on carbon management identified by each of the four subgroups at the workshop. In the respective chapters, the ideas are described, their significance is explained, and research opportunities are listed. Each chapter includes a statement of the scientific and engineering challenges related to its topic. Chapter 6 includes crosscutting issues not specific to one of the four subgroups. The chapters themselves do not include detailed analysis regarding feasibility, energy and mass balance, and so forth, as the workshop's time and scope did not permit this; it is assumed such analyses will be carried out in the research proposals that DOE funds.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!