U.S. Department of Energy awards $2 million grant to OHIO researchers to explore carbon management

Ohio University researchers in the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment were awarded one of the 33 research and development projects recently funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This initiative designed to address carbon management strategies marks progress towards equitably achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Faculty in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology are collaborating with industry partners Tundra Companies, Brown and Caldwell, CONSOL Energy and AVN to explore methodologies to isolate carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere or point sources, and reimagine uses for waste products to create carbon-negative building products. The Russ College faculty team includes John Staser, Damilola Daramola, Yahya Al-Majali, Marc Singer, Srdjan Nesic, Gregory Kremer and Felipe Aros-Vera and is led by the project's principal investigator, Jason Trembly.

As greenhouse gas emissions and supply chain security have become increasingly problematic, researchers at OHIO are pairing electrochemical processing and carbon dioxide mineralization with low-carbon electrical power offering a potential pathway to simultaneously sequester carbon and generate value-added building products. Using waste brines from oil and gas-produced water, acid mine drainage and reverse osmosis reject, researchers can recycle fluids normally seen as waste. Carbon-negative products have uses in additive manufacturing, engineered composites and cement applications.

This award, including $2 million in DOE funding and a $500,000 cost share with partner companies, is part of the DOE's Carbon Management efforts that aim to develop technologies to capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources and convert it into valuable products such as fuels and chemicals.

OHIO's carbon management strategy is rooted in well-known electrochemical technologies, allowing their process to be easily replicated across the United States. Ideally, the accessibility of this management strategy will allow the process to be reproduced and collectively contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

"Success of this project will result in cost-effective, carbon-negative building materials, addressing climate change and the anticipated growth in required building material quantities over the next several decades," said Trembly.