US DOE allocates USD 41m to renewables-to-liquids projects

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced USD 41 million (EUR 37.8m) in funding for 14 projects to develop renewables-to-liquids technologies that operate at a renewable energy production site and use its electricity, carbon dioxide and water to create liquids for sustainable fuels or chemicals.

The awards, announced last week, include, for instance, a USD-4-million grant for Ohio-based HeatPath Solutions, which aims to develop modular reactors that allow for dynamic production of methanol using intermittent renewable energy sources. The list also includes a project of Georgia Institute of Technology, which is developing an electrochemical reactor that responds quickly to dynamic changes in renewable energy to work with direct air capture systems.

The department noted that low-carbon fuels are currently expensive, but producers who use cheaper electricity sources like wind and solar independent from the grid can achieve lower costs.

The project will be managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)’s Grid-free Renewable Energy Enabling New Ways to Economical Liquids and Long-term Storage (GREENWELLS) programme, which marks the first time ARPA-E is supporting renewables-to-liquids. The programme’s goal is to develop systems that can economically store at least 50% of incoming intermittent electrical energy in carbon-containing liquids.

“Renewables-to-liquids fuel production has the potential to boost the utility of renewable energy all while helping to lay the groundwork for the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of creating a clean energy economy,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.923)

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