Reducing Cost of the CO2 Capture via Biocatalysis

The presentation will cover the development of advanced biocatalyst-based approaches to capturing CO2 from flue gas streams that address the major challenges of current technologies - the high capital and operating costs. By capitalizing on the exceptionally high catalytic power of carbonic anhydrase and a proprietary technology that stabilizes the enzyme and minimizes the diffusional limitations Akermin achieves high CO2 capture rates in a variety of environmentally benign, low energy solvents. The presentation will highlight the challenges developing enzyme-based CO2 capture systems and summarize the results of a multi-month pilot testing program at the National Carbon Capture Center. The presentation will also discuss general challenges of developing more energy-efficient, cost-effective carbon capture technologies - including the need for successive high-cost demonstrations to attain commercialization level - and emphasize the critical need for a joint governmental, scientific and engineering effort.