then send it to the Governor for action .”
Now you know , this was not the approach the Legislature took when passing S . 5 .
We ’ ve now spent more than a year working on a legislatively-mandated policy before we knew what it would cost if it would work , or if we could even do it .
And it turns out , we probably can ’ t . From my perspective , this is starting to look a lot like single payer . And , we should learn from the mistakes of the past because Vermonters deserve better .
The Illinois Institute of Technology Renewable Propane Production Project was awarded $ 3.8 million in funding by DoE . Credit PERC .
� RESEARCHERS USE CO2 TO PRODUCE RENEWABLE PROPANE
Researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology ( IIT ) have demonstrated breakthrough technology capable of producing propane from carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) and electricity from intermittent renewables such as wind and solar with unprecedented efficiency , said the Propane Education & Research Council .
The project has been selected by the US Department of Energy ’ s ( DoE ) Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy ( ARPA-E ) program to receive $ 3,853,707 in funding through the Gridfree Renewable Energy Enabling New Ways to Economical Liquids and Longterm Storage ( GREENWELLS ) initiative .
“ We have been pursuing renewable propane pathways that can produce fuel with a potential carbon intensity significantly below zero , and this project will show it can be done at scale ,” said Tucker Perkins , president and CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council ( PERC ), which is providing an active advisory role on the project . “ We ’ re seeing huge demand for renewable propane to lower carbon emissions , particularly in hard-to-abate industries like transportation and port operations . This technology could be a key to turbo-charging supply to meet that demand .”
The IIT project team aims to showcase the process on a kilowatt scale ( equivalent to processing of up to 4 kilograms per day of propane ) utilizing a system of multiple carbon dioxide electrolyzer stacks . By employing multiple stacks , the configuration permits operation within 1-100 % of its capacity , accommodating intermittent and variable power supplies . The full process will result in an unprecedented 97 % propane selectivity .
“ This is a negative-carbon process , using only captured CO2 , water , and renewable electricity as inputs ,” said Dr . Mohammad Asadi , the lead researcher on the project . “ We believe that when this technology is scaled up , it will produce renewable propane at a lower carbon intensity than any other current pathway while remaining cost-competitive with conventional propane .”
Most renewable propane commercially available today is recovered as a byproduct during the production of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel ( SAF ), which commonly use waste fats , oils , and greases as feedstocks . PERC views “ on-purpose ” renewable propane production as a beneficial step forward for the propane industry and the industries it supports .
“ Of all the pathways we have identified for producing renewable propane , none have approached the 97 % propane selectivity Dr . Asadi and his colleagues have demonstrated ,” said Dr . Sai Satish Guda , research and development manager at PERC . “ It is an extraordinarily efficient process , converting almost all the raw materials into the final product . Ultimately , that will mean less costs associated with separating byproducts from the resulting propane .”
GTI Energy is an active research partner in the project , providing technical support and third-party verification of results . Netherlands-based SHV Energy is also a partner , assisting in bringing the technology to market .
The GREENWELLS initiative aims to develop processes for harnessing intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar to produce liquids for sustainable fuels or chemicals and their precursors . According to DoE , creating new opportunities to harness renewables off-grid is critical for achieving net zero by 2050 .
The IIT project is one of 14 projects nationwide selected to receive a total of $ 41 million in GREENWELLS funding in 2024 . Learn more about GREENWELLS and the 2024 awardees from the DoE press release .
Learn more about renewable propane at propane . com .
The Propane Education & Research Council is a nonprofit that provides propane safety and training programs and invests in research and development of new propane-powered technologies . PERC is operated and funded by the propane industry . For more information , visit Propane . com . l FON
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8 OCTOBER 2024 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www . fueloilnews . com