Explorer Grants support research projects that are generally being conducted by a university lab or research entity but require further technical exploration before they would be ready to join the full-time Fellowship. These 12-month, one time grant awards may become eligible for a full-time Fellowship if the technology advances during the grant period.
2023 EXPLORER GRANTS
Green Evolution
Photosynthetic organisms that capture CO2 and convert it into sugars play a key role in regulating our atmosphere, enabling the most important step for carbon entry into the biosphere. In fact, photosynthesis is responsible for 90% of all CO2 captured directly from the air all over the world, but this process relies on a notoriously slow protein-based catalyst.
The Badran Lab is pioneering state-of-the-art strategies in protein bioengineering and evolution to develop the next generation of CO2-capturing catalysts in photosynthesis. By improving how these catalysts function, their chemical capabilities, and their stabilities, we will develop renewable and sustainable technologies for global CO2 management using photosynthetic organisms.
The Badran Lab is led by Prof. Ahmed Badran and is based at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Pulse-16
With almost 80 times the warming potential of CO2, methane is a significant contributor to climate change, impacting the environment disproportionately in the near term. Accordingly, the benefits of reducing methane emissions are commensurately large.
Pulse-16 aims to address this urgent issue by developing a modular electrolyzer technology based on a design that mimics the methane consuming abilities of bacteria.
Pulse-16 is led by Tobias Hanrath and based in Ithaca, New York.
PowerNaP Energy
While lithium-ion batteries have been the primary technology pursued to fulfill this need for the past several decades, the high cost of lithium-ion is a significant barrier in many cases, and looming materials shortages threaten to complicate the situation. Alternative chemistries, such as sodium-ion, can be produced from much more inexpensive and earth abundant elements, but have not yet achieved sufficient energy density for some key applications.
PowerNaP Energy is developing new phosphorus-based anode active materials, paired with tailored cell components and processing, in order to overcome the current energy density limitation of sodium-ion batteries. Replacing the currently used anode active materials with our new phosphorus active material system will allow sodium-ion batteries to approach the energy density of some of the best currently commercialized lithium-ion batteries, while dramatically reducing materials costs.
PowerNaP Energy is led by Benjamin Rupert and is based in Emeryville, CA.
Biogas to Syngas
Dry-reforming of methane is a catalytic process that holds great promise for converting biogas (CO2 and CH4) into synthesis gas (CO and H2), an essential feedstock for producing chemicals and fuels in the chemical industry. Unfortunately, the catalysts typically suffer from fast and severe deactivation due to coke formation.
In the Biogas to Syngas project, we are developing a new supported molten salt technology that removes the coke on the catalyst’s surface during operation. In this way, the supported molten salt can increase the catalyst’s lifetime and overcome a significant technical challenge that currently prevents commercial applications.
The project is led by Jerrik Mielby and is based at DTU Chemistry, the Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Methane Insight
Rice is typically cultivated in flooded conditions, leading to methane production in the soil and emissions from the fields. We lack effective mitigation solutions that do not require farmers to change their practices and risk yield loss.
Methane Insight addresses this challenge by developing a bio-based soil amendment to decrease methane emissions from rice agriculture. At the core of this amendment is an electrically conductive organism known as cable bacteria, which efficiently recycles sulfate in the soil, thereby preventing the formation of methane. Additionally, Methane Insight is exploring novel techniques for convenient and low-cost methane monitoring.
Methane Insight is led by Vincent Scholz and is based in Stanford, California.
CarbonBits
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions capture from the ambient atmosphere, termed Direct Air Capture (DAC), represents an essential means of combating overshoot and targeting CO2 released by all sectors, including transportation, industrial processes, electricity and heat generation, and building operations.
Based out of Singapore, CarbonBits integrates DAC solutions into the urban built infrastructure. Focusing on indoor CO2 capture, CarbonBits is working to transform ordinary office buildings into carbon sinks, while simultaneously reducing the embodied energy requirements of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to further eliminate emissions before they are produced.
The CarbonBits team is a diverse group headed by Associate Professor Tan Mei Chee (Singapore University of Technology and Design), and. PhD student Taylor Jade Self.
High-temperature Superconductors
Superconductors can be used for a variety of highly efficient power systems including cables, transformers, generators, fault current limiters, and superconducting magnetic energy storage. For instance, transmission lines made of high-temperature superconductor cables would enable significant energy-loss reductions.
The team is using a combination of a high-throughput thin film approach and single crystal growth to rapidly explore new compositions of superconductors. The focus of their research is oxide-based materials, where recently there have been many reports of new superconductors. Machine learning is used throughout the process to help guide the search.
This work is led by Ichiro Takeuchi and Johnpierre Paglione at the Maryland Quantum Materials Center at the University of Maryland in College Park.
2022 EXPLORER GRANTS
AmmPot
Ammonia is a key molecule in our society. Through its use as fertilizer, it feeds more than 50% of the world. However, since its production commonly uses fossil fuels as a source of energy and feedstock, it is responsible for approximately 2% of global CO2emissions. For each ton of ammonia produced, three tons of carbon dioxide are emitted, making ammonia production one of the most polluting chemical processes in the world.
AmmPot is developing a single-vessel ammonia production process using exclusively renewable energy, air,and water. This new technology integrates catalytic synthesis of ammonia with its separation via absorption into a single vessel and includes a novel heat transfer approach to increase energy efficiency. As a result, AmmPot enables small-scale ammonia production under milder conditions to cope with the intermittencies of renewable energy, for itsuse as both green fertilizer and long-term energy storage vector.
AmmPot is led by Dr. Collin Smith and Prof. Laura Torrente, basedin the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom).
Arculus
Clean hydrogen produced at scale using renewable energy and water can reduce emissions across hard-to-abate sectors like shipping, fertilizer and steel production, and airplanes. However, inadequate hydrogen transportation infrastructure is a recurring challenge.
Arculus is developing a hydrogen-barrier coating and application process that will enable existing steel-based natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure to safely transport clean hydrogen. By transforming existing pipelines and increasing the mix of clean gaseous fuels they can safely carry, this coating will accelerate the adoption of hydrogen as a clean fuel across industries and allow today’s pipeline infrastructure to decarbonize at scale without expensive replacement or retrofit.
Arculus is led by Gianluca Roscioli and is based in Washington, DC.
Cellcius
Long-duration storage allows for the use of more variable renewable energy sources (VREs) like wind and solar power by storing energy for a long period and dispatching power at times, such as during the night or on windless days, when these VREs are less available.
Cellcius is developing a potassium-salt based heat battery which can be charged with low-temperature waste heat, store the energy, and later release it as high-quality heat. By using abundant elements and a simple looping system, Cellcius can significantly reduce the overall energy storage costs.
Cellcius is led by Olaf Adan and based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Crop Intellect
Nitrogen is critical to plant growth and development and is typically used as synthetic fertilizer in crop farming. Although, these fertilizers have sustained an increasing population, they are also responsible for contributing significantly to environmental damage. This is due to releasing nitrous oxides (NOx, N2O) into the air as they are converted by bacteria in the soil. Agriculture contributes around 20% of the global GHG emissions. Nitrous oxide is 265 times more harmful to the environment than CO2 as it persists for more than 100 years once produced.
Crop Intellect is developing a new source of nitrogen fertilizer to feed plants called R-leaf. It is based on photocatalysis using light to convert nitrous oxides from the air into nitrate fertilizer. R-leaf is formulated in a suspension concentrate that can be sprayed onto any plant foliage to provide a constant supply of nitrogen to the plants, reducing the dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and the impact on climate change.
Crop Intellect is led by Dr. Apostolos Papadopoulos and is based in Lincoln, England, United Kingdom.
Minus Materials
Concrete is the most widely used resource in the world after water, and the production of cement –the main component of concrete –is one of the biggest polluters on the planet.
Minus Materials is engineering algae that convert CO2 and calcium into limestone for clinker, the binding material in Portland cement. This process exactly replicates traditional limestone, which was created by photosynthetic microalgae forming calcium carbonate shells that eventually turned into limestone deposits, on a much faster timeline and eliminates CO2 emissions in the production process.
Minus Materials is led by Wil Srubar and Sarah Williams and based in Boulder, Colorado.
RockFix
Removing carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere is essential to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and is especially important for combatting emissions from hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
RockFix is developing methods to sequester CO2 permanently by mineralizing carbon into mine waste (“tailings”) to create negative emissions, recover critical minerals, and reduce the long-term liabilities of mine tailings that threaten rural communities. The team’s process involves accessing more calcium and magnesium ions in the mineral separation process to improve carbonation efficiency and scalability. RockFix also aims to empower mining communities to be part of the climate solution.
RockFix is led by Gustavo Marquez and is based in Stanford, California.
Thin Air Fuels
Hydrogen energy has the potential to reduce emissions across many hard-to-abate sectors – from steel and ammonia production to shipping and long-haul trucking.
Thin Air Fuels is developing a system that uses direct air electrolysis to produce green hydrogen directly from the air – even in low humidity. By avoiding condensation and evaporation of water, this system will allow hydrogen production in areas with high renewable energy potential but low water resources.
Thin Air Fuels is led by Dr. Gang Kevin Li and Jining Guo and is based in Melbourne, Australia.
UjuziKilimo Solutions
The agriculture industry currently accounts for 19% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Soil and nutrient management systems designed to improve soil health can also aid carbon sequestration and reduce GHG emissions.
UjuziKilimo Solutions is developing an Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensor technology, called SoilPal, to monitor soil macronutrient levels, electrical conductivity, and pH and moisture content. The insights from SoilPal will help farmers optimize agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, and others and adjust irrigation to minimize water usage and carbon footprint while increasing efficiencies and crop yields.
UjuziKilimo Solutions is led by Brian Bosire, Dickson Ayuka, and Evans Wadongo and is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Unnamed Redox-Flow Battery
Long-duration storage allows for the use of more variable renewable energy sources (VREs) like wind and solar power by storing energy for a long period and dispatching power at times, such as during the night or on windless days, when these VREs are less available.
Louise Berben is developing a Redox-Flow Battery (RFB) that uses an organo-aluminum analyte molecule rather than the traditional Vanadium as the charge carrier. In addition to being less expensive and domestically sourced, organo-aluminum can be used in non-aqueous systems, which increases the scope of real-world applications.
Louise Berben leads this project and is based in Davis, California.