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Revolutionizing Energy Storage: Li-CO2 Batteries With Carbon Capture

News Feed
Tuesday, April 16, 2024

A groundbreaking advancement in battery technology offers a dual benefit of efficient energy storage and CO2 capture, made possible by a new catalyst development system.New technology could lead to batteries that store energy and capture CO2, offering a significant advancement in environmental technology.Efficient and cheap batteries that can also capture harmful emissions could be right around the corner, thanks to a new system that speeds up the development of catalysts for lithium-CO2 (Li-CO2) batteries.The technology has been developed by the University of Surrey, Imperial College London, and Peking University to address the slow and inefficient methods currently used to produce catalysts for Li-CO2 batteries. In the study, researchers used their tool to test and screen materials like platinum, gold, silver, copper, iron, and nickel to easily investigate whether they would be suitable candidates for developing high-performing Li-CO2 batteries.Dr. Kai Yang, corresponding author of this work, project co-leader and Lecturer from the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, explained:“We have created a cutting-edge lab-on-a-chip electrochemical testing platform that can do multiple things at the same time. It helps evaluate electrocatalysts, optimize operation conditions, and study CO2 conversion in high-performance lithium-CO2 batteries. This new method is more cost-effective, efficient, and controllable than traditional ways of making these materials.”Li-CO2 batteries are a promising new type of battery that work by combining lithium and carbon dioxide; they not only store energy effectively but also offer a way to capture CO2, potentially making a dual contribution to the fight against climate change.Dr. Yunlong Zhao, the lead corresponding author of this study and a Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, the National Physical Laboratory, and visiting academic from the University of Surrey, said:“It is crucial that we develop new negative emissions technologies. Our lab-on-a-chip platform will play a crucial role in advancing this goal. It will not only enhance our understanding of novel batteries, but it can also be applied to other systems like metal-air batteries, fuel cells, and photoelectrochemical cells.“This new tool will enable quick screening of catalysts, studying reaction mechanisms, and practical applications, from nanoscience to cutting-edge carbon removal technologies.”The study has been published by Energy and Environmental Science.Reference: “Developing highly reversible Li–CO2 batteries: from on-chip exploration to practical application” by Manman Wang, Kai Yang, Yuchen Ji, Xiaobin Liao, Guangpeng Zhang, Mateus G. Masteghin, Nianhua Peng, Filipe Richheimer, Huanxin Li, Jianan Wang, Xinhua Liu, Shichun Yang, Enrico Petrucco, Paul Shearing, Fernando A. Castro, S. Ravi P. Silva, Yan Zhao, Feng Pan and Yunlong Zhao, 21 July 2023, Energy & Environmental Science.DOI: 10.1039/D3EE00794D

New technology could lead to batteries that store energy and capture CO2, offering a significant advancement in environmental technology. Efficient and cheap batteries that can...

Advanced Battery Technology Breakthrough

A groundbreaking advancement in battery technology offers a dual benefit of efficient energy storage and CO2 capture, made possible by a new catalyst development system.

New technology could lead to batteries that store energy and capture CO2, offering a significant advancement in environmental technology.

Efficient and cheap batteries that can also capture harmful emissions could be right around the corner, thanks to a new system that speeds up the development of catalysts for lithium-CO2 (Li-CO2) batteries.

The technology has been developed by the University of Surrey, Imperial College London, and Peking University to address the slow and inefficient methods currently used to produce catalysts for Li-CO2 batteries.

In the study, researchers used their tool to test and screen materials like platinum, gold, silver, copper, iron, and nickel to easily investigate whether they would be suitable candidates for developing high-performing Li-CO2 batteries.

Dr. Kai Yang, corresponding author of this work, project co-leader and Lecturer from the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, explained:

“We have created a cutting-edge lab-on-a-chip electrochemical testing platform that can do multiple things at the same time. It helps evaluate electrocatalysts, optimize operation conditions, and study CO2 conversion in high-performance lithium-CO2 batteries. This new method is more cost-effective, efficient, and controllable than traditional ways of making these materials.”

Li-CO2 batteries are a promising new type of battery that work by combining lithium and carbon dioxide; they not only store energy effectively but also offer a way to capture CO2, potentially making a dual contribution to the fight against climate change.

Dr. Yunlong Zhao, the lead corresponding author of this study and a Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, the National Physical Laboratory, and visiting academic from the University of Surrey, said:

“It is crucial that we develop new negative emissions technologies. Our lab-on-a-chip platform will play a crucial role in advancing this goal. It will not only enhance our understanding of novel batteries, but it can also be applied to other systems like metal-air batteries, fuel cells, and photoelectrochemical cells.

“This new tool will enable quick screening of catalysts, studying reaction mechanisms, and practical applications, from nanoscience to cutting-edge carbon removal technologies.”

The study has been published by Energy and Environmental Science.

Reference: “Developing highly reversible Li–CO2 batteries: from on-chip exploration to practical application” by Manman Wang, Kai Yang, Yuchen Ji, Xiaobin Liao, Guangpeng Zhang, Mateus G. Masteghin, Nianhua Peng, Filipe Richheimer, Huanxin Li, Jianan Wang, Xinhua Liu, Shichun Yang, Enrico Petrucco, Paul Shearing, Fernando A. Castro, S. Ravi P. Silva, Yan Zhao, Feng Pan and Yunlong Zhao, 21 July 2023, Energy & Environmental Science.
DOI: 10.1039/D3EE00794D

Read the full story here.
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U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen is facing off against Republican Sam Brown, with the development of solar energy a dividing line between the two candidates as the state sees a rapid buildout of renewable energy projects.By Wyatt MyskowIn November’s election, Nevadans will vote between two U.S. Senate candidates with vastly different climate and energy positions—particularly regarding solar energy, an issue that has even divided climate and environmental advocates in the state.

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Michigan’s ambitious clean energy laws face a peninsula-sized hurdle

Natural gas power plants put in place just five years ago to replace coal in the state's Upper Peninsula are now a conundrum for regulators.

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan. Last year, Michigan became one of the latest states to adopt a clean energy standard, passing sweeping legislation that calls for utilities there to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2040 and sets targets for renewable energy development, among other requirements.  Now, it’s rolling out those laws. And the Michigan Public Service Commission, the energy regulators responsible for that rollout, must pay special attention to the Upper Peninsula. The commission has until December 1 to recommend whether — and how — the legislation should be adjusted to accommodate its people, businesses, and utilities.  They’ve got their work cut out for them: The Upper Peninsula, known colloquially as the U.P., is a huge, sparsely populated region in the north, separated from the rest of the state by the Straits of Mackinac and wedged between lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. The U.P. has a lot of utilities for its small population of just over 300,000, requiring a higher level of cooperation among them. Plus, the grid was built with power-hogging industries like mining and paper mills in mind, and fluctuating industrial demand has meant people who live in the region have faced high costs over the years. Some utilities have charged residents rates that are among the highest in Michigan and the country. And the Public Service Commission has to ensure that the natural gas plants it approved in 2017 as a cleaner alternative to coal don’t prevent Michigan from achieving its clean energy goals.  Those natural gas plants are powered by reciprocating internal combustion engines, called RICE units, that went online just five years ago and were built to last for decades — that is, beyond the state’s 2040 goal for clean energy. While the mining company Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay half of the $277 million price tag, the rest of the cost was passed on to more than 42,000 utility customers.  Michigan’s new energy laws specifically mention the U.P.’s expensive new natural gas engines as a hurdle and ask the Public Service Commission to figure out what to do. The laws don’t require shutting down the engines outright. But they do consider only natural gas paired with carbon capture “clean,” so the utility running the engines would have to deploy a lot of renewables instead or find some other way to comply with the new rules. What all that means for the future of the five-year-old engines is uncertain.  Dan Scripps, the commission’s chair, said the state could tweak its approach to the RICE units by reducing or offsetting emissions. Another option, he said, would be to think about the region’s energy goals holistically: “How do you effectively get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, but maybe with more flexibility around carbon capture and that sort of thing?” The commission is juggling a lot of opinions.  Mining officials and employees spoke in favor of continuing to run the RICE units at a public hearing held by the commission this summer.  Ryan Korpela, the general manager for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Tilden Mine, asked commissioners to allow the natural gas engines to operate without requiring renewable energy credits or new power generation, calling them “the perfect solution to a difficult problem,” and noting that ratepayers already foot the bill. Officials with Cleveland-Cliffs say that the engines are cleaner and more efficient than coal, saving customers money on transmission costs. But organizations like the Sierra Club have spoken out against installing them in places like neighboring Wisconsin, arguing that burning methane — the main component of natural gas — harms both the climate and the people living next to the plants. The climate think tank RMI says many comparisons of coal and gas only consider end-use emissions, and don’t account for methane leaks during production and transportation. According to an RMI analysis published last year, those leaks can put the climate impacts of natural gas on par with coal (when emitted into the atmosphere, methane is about 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide). The utility that operates the RICE units, Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation, is working to deploy renewables, said spokesperson Brendan Conway in an email, but they’re balancing that with an immediate need for reliable energy: “These units serve that critical function in a part of the state with limited transmission access.” A natural gas generating station in Negaunee Township, Michigan, powered by reciprocating internal combustion engines, or RICE units. Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation Others, including environmental and energy groups, have pushed to implement the state’s laws as written, including the clean energy mandate. Abby Wallace, a member of the Michigan Environmental Council, wants to find a compromise on the natural gas engines. “There are ways that the RICE units could be made more efficient themselves. And I think it’s premature to say that the U.P. in no way could meet the goals that the rest of the state are being held to in the legislation,” she said during the hearing. Across the country, four states have 100 percent renewable portfolio standards, while 16 states have adopted broader 100 percent clean electricity standards, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s August report. 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Massive $4.2B NV Energy Transmission Line Gets Federal Approval

A large-scale transmission line set to run between Las Vegas and Reno has received a final stamp of approval from the Department of Interior

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It is expected to be in service by December 2028.The advancement of the Greenlink projects comes on the heels of the BLM’s recently released Western Solar Plan, which potentially opens millions of acres of public land in Nevada to solar development. Additional renewable projects advanced Also on Monday, the Department of Interior advanced two additional renewable-energy projects in the state.A final decision was issued for the Libra Solar Project in Lyon and Mineral counties. With the ability to generate and store as much as 700 megawatts of energy, the project will be the largest solar-plus battery storage project in Nevada and one of the largest in the United States.The public comment period was also opened for the environmental impact statement for the 300 megawatt Bonanza Solar Project in Clark and Nye counties. The proposed project would include battery storage. Since the start of his presidency, President Joe Biden has approved 41 renewable-energy projects on public lands with the goal of permitting 25 gigawatts by 2025. The federal government is also processing an additional 55 utility-scale renewable-energy project proposals across the West.This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

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Ukraine Braces for Hardest Winter Due to Intensified Russian Attacks on Energy Infrastructure

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Russian attacks continue to hammer Ukraine’s energy generation capacity, leaving the country heavily reliant on its three functioning nuclear power stations and electricity imports from European Union countries.“Energy resilience is one of our greatest challenges this year,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a news conference in Kyiv.“We successfully got through what was essentially two and a half winters. We will get through three, with this upcoming heating season likely being just as difficult, if not the hardest,” he said.Shmyhal said Ukraine’s government, helped by European countries, was urgently developing initiatives to decentralize its power generation, to make it less vulnerable to attacks. That includes expanding renewable power capacity — a development applauded by environmental groups.Greenpeace has argued that a decentralized solar power network — which would be harder to damage with Russian missile and drone strikes — could rapidly help repair domestic capacity, and is urging the government to make a bolder expansion into green energy.The group is calling for internationally backed investments worth nearly 4.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion) through 2030, focusing on renewable projects dominated by the solar photovoltaic sector.“(Our) research says that the current targets, which the Ukrainian government set for reaching solar energy by 2027, could be increased at least fivefold. This is a very conservative evaluation,” Natalia Gozak, head of Greenpeace in Ukraine, told The Associated Press after the group opened an office in Kyiv on Tuesday.According to the United Nations and the World Bank, Ukraine lost more than half of its power-generating capacity in the first 14 months of the war, with the situation continuing to deteriorate. Much of the country’s solar power generation was also lost because areas in the south of the country with more abundant sunlight came under Russian occupation.The pre-war power mix in Ukraine was heavily dominated by traditional sources of energy, with coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear making up nearly 95% of the total, according to the two bodies.Alexander Egit, an executive director at Greenpeace for Central and Eastern Europe, urged Western donor nations to back projects focused on renewable energy during and after the war.“We expect billions of euros to be invested in Ukraine’s reconstruction by the European Union and beyond,” he said. “Greenpeace’s role is to advocate for decentralized renewable energy to ensure Ukraine is rebuilt as a modern, green, and independent nation.” ___Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

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A new ‘green bank’ could bring solar power and electric buses to Appalachia

$500 million from the EPA will support small lenders to invest in renewable energy

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.Gwen Christon runs an IGA grocery store in Isom, a town in eastern Kentucky that struggles with exorbitant utility bills and few grocery options. Climate change is worsening both problems. When the state’s record flood of 2022 devastated her supermarket, the town became a food desert as she scrambled to reopen. She soon turned to a small, local financial institution called the Mountain Association for help. With its support, the store, a steadfast community institution since it opened in 1973, found funding for rooftop solar, and more efficient coolers, heating, and air conditioning. Those improvements saved Christon enough on her power bills to reopen — and hire 10 additional employees.  “They’re reaping the benefits of reduced energy costs, so that they can reinvest back into their businesses and continue to grow their workforce [and] provide lower-cost groceries,” said Robin Gabbard, president of the Mountain Association. The organization Gabbard leads is a community development financial institution, or CDFI, one in a network of small local lenders across Appalachia and the country that provide small loans to entrepreneurs and homeowners in rural and low-income areas.  Thanks to $500 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, a new initiative called the Green Bank for Rural America could help channel money to nonprofit lenders like the Mountain Association to support community solar arrays, apprenticeships in renewable energy fields, electrified public transit, and other projects. The program will link over 75 rural CDFIs, with priority given to those in the Appalachian mountain region. It is part of the EPA’S $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created to support financial organizations with a history of deep community relationships and investment in local projects.  “CDFIs kind of serve as the on-ramp for communities, and banks are on the highway,” said Donna Gambrell, president of Appalachian Community Capital, or ACC. The firm, established by the Appalachian Regional Commission, raises and distributes funds for community development financial institutions throughout low-income rural communities in Appalachia. The funding awarded to ACC will help it provide more assistance to its small lender network. The steering committee for the Green Bank includes institutions from across Appalachia, including CommunityWorks Carolina, Grow America, and Coalfield Development. These funds are meant to jumpstart future private investment, with Gambrell estimating that ACC’s award will leverage $1.6 billion in private investment. The bank will prioritize the Appalachian region’s 582 counties and serve other swaths of rural America, particularly low-income areas, communities of color, and energy communities transitioning away from fossil fuel production.  Read Next Biden’s ‘Solar for All’ awards $7B to bring affordable energy to low-income families Syris Valentine The Green Bank for Rural America is intended to raise the lending capacity of organizations like Mountain Association and expand investment in all phases of the energy transition and climate resilience. Particular areas of focus include workforce training, renewable energy storage, electric transit, home energy efficiency, and disaster relief. The money will support work that many areas have been doing for a long time, Gabbard said.   CDFIs have historical roots in the 19th century, as Black and immigrant business owners, denied loans by white-owned banks, developed their own financial institutions. The Treasury Department formally recognized them in 1994 when it established the CDFI Fund. Now there are over 1,000 across the country, supporting projects that otherwise might not get financed.  The green banking movement began as a way to finance small clean energy projects, but it’s taken some time to attain national recognition. Since 2009, legislators from across the country have championed the creation of a national Green Bank seeded with public funding, in order to jumpstart potentially costly but essential renewable energy infrastructure at the smallest level. In August, the first nationwide green bank — the Coalition for Green Capital — launched with $5.1 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act.   It is one of more than a dozen green banks across the country. Such institutions underwrite residential solar and energy efficiency upgrades, deployment of alternative fuel vehicles, and other small-scale climate solutions. The Connecticut Green Bank estimates that it has prevented the emission of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide since its founding in 2011.  Jason Spicer, an assistant professor at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College at CUNY, has for many years studied the impact of CDFIs in Appalachia. These projects, Spicer says, address financial inequalities at a small scale, but it can be difficult for them to change the underlying conditions that foster inequality. Place-based investments don’t always change structural problems, particularly in a region spanning so vast a geographical area and containing so many economies and material circumstances.  Read Next Vermont passed a bill making Big Oil pay. Now comes the hard part. Sachi Kitajima Mulkey & Syris Valentine “There has long been tremendous amounts of investment into Appalachia,” Spicer said. “The problem is by whom and for what purpose.” As absentee landowners — coal companies, timber companies, speculators — invested in resource extraction, the wealth generated by these resources left the region, enriching the already wealthy.  “What are the models that ensure this wealth can be retained locally?” Spicer asked, suggesting that cooperative ownership and worker ownership may lead to a more equitable distribution of resources. One challenge of making the energy transition change financial relationships between capital and low-income communities is the scale of the needed transformation; $500 million, Spicer said, could help small lenders scale up, since the bureaucracy involved in microloans is often prohibitive for small lenders in low-income areas. The Green Bank could help bridge the gap by providing resources where they’re needed most. “A benefit of the CDFI system in theory is that it’s targeting the places most in need,” Spicer said. “In theory, you’re not seeing this go to the strongest counties in the region, right?” Gambrell said that’s exactly the goal. “We wanted to make sure that these were high impact projects, green projects, renewable energy projects that were in low wealth rural communities,” she said. “The projects themselves would help create jobs that stay in hard hit communities.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline A new ‘green bank’ could bring solar power and electric buses to Appalachia on Sep 10, 2024.

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