US DOE Invests $41M in Pioneering Renewables-to-Liquids Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy has committed $41 million to fund 14 projects aimed at transforming renewable energy sources like wind and solar into liquid fuels and chemicals. This initiative seeks to develop Renewables-to-Liquids (RtL) technologies capable of producing energy carriers with the transportability and storage advantages of traditional fossil fuels. This solution bridges the mismatch between renewable energy generation and the current U.S. power grid infrastructure by enabling the efficient transportation of sustainable fuels. Consequently, these projects have the potential to overcome interconnection barriers and contribute to emissions reductions in hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors.

The selected project teams will concentrate on creating advanced systems that seamlessly integrate with renewable energy production sites. These systems will harness electricity, carbon dioxide, and water to generate liquid fuels or drop-in replacements for conventional fuels. This innovative approach enables the deployment of clean energy across various sectors in the U.S., including those that are typically hard to decarbonize, such as transportation. Currently, low-carbon fuels are expensive, costing around $10 per gallon. By utilizing cost-effective and renewable electricity sources like wind and solar—resources that are independent of the traditional power grid—producers can significantly lower the overall cost of fuel, making it more economically viable.

The DOE’s Moonshot Factory, known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), will oversee these projects under its Grid-free Renewable Energy Enabling New Ways to Economical Liquids and Long-term Storage (GREENWELLS) program. This marks ARPA-E’s inaugural support for Renewables-to-Liquids (RtL) technologies aimed at producing liquid fuels. The program's goal is to develop systems capable of economically storing at least 50% of intermittent electrical energy in carbon-containing liquids.

The selected projects to advance Renewables-to-Liquids (RtL) systems include:

• Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) will develop an electrochemical reactor designed to adapt rapidly to fluctuations in renewable energy, integrating with direct air capture systems to produce syngas for hydrocarbon synthesis. (Award amount: $1,970,200)

• HeatPath Solutions (Lewis Center, OH) will create a novel method for synthesizing methanol that dynamically utilizes intermittent renewable electricity. (Award amount: $4,000,000)

• Susteon (Cary, NC) aims to develop a proprietary process to convert carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and renewable electricity into kerosene-range hydrocarbons. This innovative approach aims to produce a sustainable alternative fuel source. (Award amount: $4,999,500)

ARPA-E drives the development of high-potential, high-impact clean energy technologies across various strategic technical areas crucial to America's energy security. Discover more about these initiatives and ARPA-E's dedication to maintaining the United States' leadership in advancing and deploying cutting-edge clean energy solutions.