Award Data

Phytodetectors will design and engineer a synthetic biological pump circuit to increase the volume of water produced via photosynthetic desalination. This project builds off previous technology designed by Phytodetectors: a mangrove-inspired ultra-filter that allows plants to purify salt water as well as secrete water with properties comparable to bottled water. The partnership seeks to demonstrat ...

Increasing concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere poses a threat to the global climate. One promising method for reducing atmospheric CO 2 is a repeated enhanced weathering process. Enhanced weathering is a process where a natural reaction between CO 2 gas and minerals rich in magnesium and/or calcium is accelerated to quickly form a solid carbonate. The cycle can be repeated by separating the CO ...

The proposed program would develop 2-pole high-temperature superconducting dc power cables and connectors with a power rating of up to 50 MW that would enable twin-aisle aircraft with distributed electric propulsion in an effort to reduce carbon emissions of large passenger aircraft. The cables and connectors will contain dielectrics that are independent of the cryogenic medium used as coolant and ...

Herein, Zymochem, Inc., in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), proposes to develop carbon- and energy-efficient biocatalysts capable of co-conversion of C1- and biomass-derived substrates to a high-volume platform fuel and chemical intermediate. We propose to demonstrate a carbon conserving decoupled growth & production (DGP) process to enable improved carbon efficien ...

Herein, Zymochem, Inc., in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), proposes to develop carbon- and energy-efficient biocatalysts capable of co-conversion of C1- and biomass-derived substrates to a high-volume platform fuel and chemical intermediate. We propose to demonstrate a carbon conserving decoupled growth & production (DGP) process to enable improved carbon efficien ...

Carbon drawdown and retention in terrestrial biomass is currently limited by the rate of photosynthetic assimilation and of decay of lignocellulosic biomass respectively. Living Carbon is developing innovative methods of reducing the susceptibility of vegetative biomass to decay by lignotrophic fungi, thereby reducing the rate of release of carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere through fungal resp ...

Producing green hydrogen using renewable energy can reduce emissions for major domestic industrial sectors which use hydrogen as a feedstock like ammonia fertilizer, refineries, chemicals and steel. Additionally, green hydrogen can be used to reduce dependencies on foreign energy sources as a transportation fuel for heavy-duty vehicles, a long-duration energy storage medium, or as a natural gas re ...

Nitricity is developing a technology that produces nitrogen fertilizer using inputs of air, water, and renewable electricity. If successful, this technology has the potential to economically decarbonize fertilizer production from the Haber-Bosch process, which is a $68B global market and gigaton CO2eq/yr mitigation opportunity. Our team has developed a plasma-based process that couples with on-far ...

Methane emissions are responsible for 20% of greenhouse gas warming. A proven, economical way of mitigating these emissions is to find high-flow methane sources and convert the methane stream into carbon dioxide, using flares or generators, mitigating 96% of the warming effects. We propose to develop a miniature methane flare, capable of handling emissions from sources in the range of 10-200 tonne ...

Addressing climate change from greenhouse gas emissions to prevent continued global warming will be done with a suite of technologies. Direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide (CO2) is receiving significant attention as a way to reverse these emissions, however, it is a relatively new technology that will require continued technology development for viable cost targets to be realized. DAC is sig ...