Technoeconomic Analysis and Design of CO₂ Capture and Conversion Systems

Abstract

Carbon capture and conversion technologies must become economically viable and scale to the gigaton level by 2050 to avoid the most serious effects of a climate crisis. Here we present a techno-economic analysis of two promising capture and conversion technologies: CO₂ capture from ocean waters via electrochemical pH swing and electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into valuable chemicals. We identify cost drivers of the proposed direct ocean capture process and suggest future work to reduce costs and technological risks. Finally, we examine the sensitivities of the cost of CO₂ conversion with regards to the design of electrode gas diffusion layers. We design and construct a CO₂ conversion reactor for testing of next generation gas diffusion layers. Strong baseline performance of the reactor is validated with a 47% Faradaic Efficiency towards C₂H₄ at 200mA/cm².