Consensus Study Report

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International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-71775-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-71775-2
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/27732

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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Carbon Utilization Infrastructure, Markets, and Research and Development: A Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27732.

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COMMITTEE ON CARBON UTILIZATION INFRASTRUCTURE, MARKETS, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

EMILY A. CARTER (NAS/NAE) (Chair), Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

SHOTA ATSUMI, University of California, Davis

MAKINI BYRON, Linde

JINGGUANG CHEN (NAE), Columbia University

STEPHEN COMELLO, Energy Futures Initiative Foundation

MAOHONG FAN, University of Wyoming and Georgia Institute of Technology

BENNY FREEMAN (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin

MATTHEW FRY, Great Plains Institute

SARAH M. JORDAAN, McGill University

HAROUN MAHGEREFTEH, University College London

AH-HYUNG (ALISSA) PARK, University of California, Los Angeles

JOSEPH B. POWELL (NAE), University of Houston

CLAUDIA A. RAMÍREZ RAMÍREZ, Delft University of Technology

VOLKER SICK, University of Michigan

SIMONE H. STEWART, National Wildlife Federation

JASON PATRICK TREMBLY, Ohio University

JENNY Y. YANG, University of California, Irvine

JOSHUA S. YUAN, Washington University in St. Louis

Study Staff

ELIZABETH ZEITLER, Study Director, Associate Board Director, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES)

CATHERINE WISE, Study Co-Director, Program Officer, BEES

KASIA KORNECKI, Senior Program Officer, BEES

LIANA VACCARI, Program Officer, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST)

REBECCA PETRICH-DeBOER, Research Associate, BEES

JASMINE VICTORIA BRYANT, Research Assistant, BEES

KAIA RUSSELL, Senior Program Assistant, BEES

BRENT HEARD, Senior Program Officer, BEES

APARAJITA DATTA, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow, BEES

ISHITA KAMBOJ, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow, BCST

KAVITHA CHINTAM, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow, BEES

__________________

NOTE: See Appendix B, Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflicts of Interest.

BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

SUSAN F. TIERNEY (Chair), Analysis Group

CARLA BAILO, Center for Automotive Research (retired)

LOUISE BEDSWORTH, University of California, Berkeley

T.J. GLAUTHIER, TJG Energy Associates, LLC

PAULA GLOVER, Alliance to Save Energy

DENISE GRAY (NAE), DKTN Consulting, LLC

JENNIFER R. HOLMGREN, LanzaTech

JOHN G. KASSAKIAN (NAE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MICHAEL LAMACH, Trane Technologies (retired)

CARLOS E. MARTÍN, Brookings Institution, Harvard University

JOSÉ G. SANTIESTEBAN (NAE), ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (retired)

GORDON VAN WELIE (NAE), ISO New England, Inc.

DAVID G. VICTOR, University of California, San Diego, Deep Decarbonization Initiative

Staff

K. JOHN HOLMES, Board Director/Scholar

ELIZABETH ZEITLER, Associate Board Director

BRENT HEARD, Senior Program Officer

KASIA KORNECKI, Senior Program Officer

CATHERINE WISE, Program Officer

REBECCA PETRICH-DEBOER, Research Associate

JASMINE VICTORIA BRYANT, Research Assistant

KAIA RUSSELL, Senior Program Assistant

HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Financial Manager

BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

SCOTT COLLICK (Co-Chair), DuPont

JENNIFER SINCLAIR CURTIS (Co-Chair), University of California, Davis

RUBEN CARBONELL (NAE), North Carolina State University

RIGOBERTO CASTILLO ADVINCULA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and University of Tennessee

LEO CHIANG, Dow Core Research & Development

JOHN FORTNER, Yale University

KAREN GOLDBERG (NAS), University of Pennsylvania

MARTHA HEAD, Amgen

JENNIFER HEEMSTRA, Emory University

JODIE LUTKENHAUS, Texas A&M University

SHELLEY MINTEER, University of Utah

AMY PRIETO, Colorado State University and Prieto Battery, Inc.

MEGAN ROBERTSON, University of Houston

ANUP K. SINGH, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

VIJAY SWARUP, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

CATHY TWAY, BP

Staff

CHARLES FERGUSON, Board Director

LIANA VACCARI, Program Officer

LINDA NHON, Program Officer

KAYANNA WYMBS, Research Assistant

THANH NGUYEN, Financial Business Partner

Reviewers

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by JOAN BRENNECKE (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin, and ANDREW BROWN, JR. (NAE), Diamond Consulting. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

Contents

PREFACE

SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION

2 PRIORITY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CO₂- OR COAL WASTE–DERIVED PRODUCTS IN A NET-ZERO EMISSIONS FUTURE

3 LIFE CYCLE, TECHNO-ECONOMIC, AND SOCIETAL/EQUITY ASSESSMENTS OF CO₂ UTILIZATION PROCESSES, TECHNOLOGIES, AND SYSTEMS

4 POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS NEEDED FOR ECONOMICALLY VIABLE AND SUSTAINABLE CO₂ UTILIZATION

5 MINERALIZATION OF CO₂ TO INORGANIC CARBONATES

6 CHEMICAL CO₂ CONVERSION TO ELEMENTAL CARBON MATERIALS

7 CHEMICAL CO₂ CONVERSION TO FUELS, CHEMICALS, AND POLYMERS

8 BIOLOGICAL CO₂ CONVERSION TO FUELS, CHEMICALS, AND POLYMERS

9 PRODUCTS FROM COAL WASTE

10 CO₂ UTILIZATION INFRASTRUCTURE

11 A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH AGENDA FOR CO₂ AND COAL WASTE UTILIZATION

APPENDIXES

A Committee Member Biographical Information

B Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflicts of Interest

C Committee Information-Gathering Sessions

D Acronyms and Abbreviations

E Supplemental Material to the Comprehensive Research Agenda for CO₂ and Coal Waste Utilization

F CO₂ Capture and Purification Technology Research, Development, and Demonstration Needs

G Key Features of Effective Siting and Permitting Processes

H CO₂ Stream Impurities and CO₂ Purity Requirements for Transport and Utilization

I Additional Information on Markets for CO₂ Utilization

J Background Information About Life Cycle, Techno-Economic, and Societal/Equity Assessments

K Elemental Carbon Products Literature Review

L Extraction of Select Critical Minerals from Coal Wastes: Literature Review

Preface

This second and final report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (the National Academies’) congressionally mandated study on carbon utilization infrastructure, markets, and research and development should be read by anyone aspiring to help transition the world to a net-zero or net-negative carbon-emission civilization. This comprehensive report provides a sober look at some of the difficult tasks ahead of us. We must rise to the challenge, given the increasingly alarming changes to our climate. (Since the first report’s publication in early 2023, we have witnessed many tragedies, including the destruction of Lahaina, Hawaii, and the perishing of nearly 100 of its citizens by wildfire; the unprecedented, widespread warming of the Atlantic Ocean; and the largest coral bleaching on record.)

This report focuses on an oft-neglected aspect of the transition to net-zero emissions: the carbon embedded in the essential products used in daily life, such as chemicals, plastics, and construction materials. While the energy system should be “decarbonized” by switching from fossil fuel to renewable or nuclear sources, zero-carbon alternatives cannot replace essential carbon-based products. Where carbon is crucial, we have two solutions. For short-lived products like chemicals or aviation fuel, we can stop using fossil carbon as a feedstock and instead develop processes that use recycled carbon. On the other hand, long-lived products can provide a place to store carbon for the long term, while meeting other market needs, such as for concrete, aggregates, or elemental carbon materials. We specifically must find sustainable ways to recycle and reuse carbon wastes, especially those causing the planet the most harm, to continue to produce many of the products needed for everyday life. This committee’s mandate was to assess prospects for utilizing two particular carbon wastes in large abundance: carbon dioxide and coal waste. This final report expands far beyond, while building upon, the conclusions of the committee’s first report, which spotlighted the current status, needs, and opportunities for CO₂ utilization market and infrastructure development.

In the following chapters, the committee examines market opportunities for carbon dioxide and coal waste utilization, the status of utilization technologies and their research, development, and demonstration needs, and the needs for and impacts of infrastructure for CO₂ utilization. The report also outlines the status and needs for life cycle, techno-economic, and equity assessments of CO₂ utilization systems, and the policy and regulatory frameworks needed for CO₂ utilization to contribute sustainably to a net-zero emissions future. With respect to specific processes and products, the report analyzes CO₂ mineralization, chemical, and biological conversion routes to make inorganic carbonate construction materials, elemental carbon materials, fuels, chemicals, and polymers. The report also examines coal waste utilization to produce long-lived carbon products and to extract critical minerals. This comprehensive review resulted in a research agenda for carbon utilization, discussed in individual chapters and in a final chapter along with Appendix E that organizes the information in multiple ways for multiple audiences.

Unlike the first report, which was completed in a relatively short time—under a year—to inform near-term infrastructure investment decisions, the committee developed this second report over roughly 15 months, holding throughout 2023 seven open information-gathering sessions with 41 speakers from multiple Department of Energy (DOE) offices, congressional authorizing committees, the Small Business Administration, companies, national laboratories, university researchers, and nonprofits. The committee held meetings for deliberation and worked

independently and in small groups to produce the report’s text, findings, recommendations, and research agenda. The committee has worked extraordinarily hard to produce this remarkably comprehensive analysis extending from basic research through societal impacts and everything in between. To cover that intellectual landscape appropriately, we added seven new members with complementary expertise to the committee that wrote the first report, to bring even more expertise on research, development, and demonstration needs and opportunities, coal waste utilization, life cycle issues, and societal considerations for carbon utilization. Together, I believe we have delivered a report of broad and lasting value to our sponsors within DOE and Congress, and for the nation and the world. As the chair, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to every committee member and to the National Academies staff for their indispensable contributions and steadfast commitment to our shared aspirations to preserve and sustain the planet for future generations.

Emily A. Carter, Chair
Committee on Carbon Utilization Infrastructure, Markets, Research and Development