UCLA Scientists Create Bacteria to Consume CO2 and Produce Liquid Isobutanol Fuel Via Photosynthesis

Global climate change has prompted efforts to drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels. Synthetic biology may hold the answer.  In a new approach, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce the liquid fuel isobutanol, which holds great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.

 

Genetically engineered strains of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus in a Petri dish

Image Credit:: UCLA

The research appears in the Dec. 9 print edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology and is available online.

 

This new method has two advantages for the long-term, global-scale goal of achieving a cleaner and greener energy economy, the researchers say. First, it recycles carbon dioxide, reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. Second, it uses solar energy to convert the carbon dioxide into a liquid fuel that can be used in the existing energy infrastructure, including in most automobiles.

 

While other alternatives to gasoline include deriving biofuels from plants or from algae, both of these processes require several intermediate steps before refinement into usable fuels.

 

"This new approach avoids the need for biomass deconstruction, either in the case of cellulosic biomass or algal biomass, which is a major economic barrier for biofuel production," said team leader James C. Liao, Chancellor's Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA and associate director of the UCLA–Department of Energy Institute for Genomics and Proteomics. "Therefore, this is potentially much more efficient and less expensive than the current approach."

 

Using the cyanobacterium Synechoccus elongatus, researchers first genetically increased the quantity of the carbon dioxide–fixing enzyme RuBisCO. Then they spliced genes from other microorganisms to engineer a strain that intakes carbon dioxide and sunlight and produces isobutyraldehyde gas. The low boiling point and high vapor pressure of the gas allows it to easily be stripped from the system.

 

The engineered bacteria can produce isobutanol directly, but researchers say it is currently easier to use an existing and relatively inexpensive chemical catalysis process to convert isobutyraldehyde gas to isobutanol, as well as other useful petroleum-based products.

 

In addition to Liao, the research team included lead author Shota Atsumi, a former UCLA postdoctoral scholar now on the UC Davis faculty, and UCLA postdoctoral scholar Wendy Higashide.

 

An ideal place for this system would be next to existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide, the researchers say, potentially allowing the greenhouse gas to be captured and directly recycled into liquid fuel.

 

"We are continuing to improve the rate and yield of the production," Liao said. "Other obstacles include the efficiency of light distribution and reduction of bioreactor cost. We are working on solutions to these problems."

 

The research was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1945, offers 28 academic and professional degree programs, including an interdepartmental graduate degree program in biomedical engineering. Ranked among the top 10 engineering schools at public universities nationwide, the school is home to seven multimillion-dollar interdisciplinary research centers in wireless sensor systems, nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing and nanoelectronics, all funded by federal and private agencies.

$100 Million Available in Grants from ARPA-E for Carbon Capture, Better Batteries and Biofuels in Second Round of Recovery Act Funding

On December 7th, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced  a second round of funding opportunities for  energy research projects is being made through the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). At an event with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Secretary Chu said $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technologies, increase America’s competitiveness and create jobs.

“I am pleased to announce ARPA-E’s second funding opportunity because it demonstrates our commitment to lead the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies, creating thousands of new jobs while helping cut carbon pollution,” said Secretary Chu.  “This solicitation focuses on three cutting-edge technology areas which could have a transformational impact.”

ARPA-E’s first solicitation, announced earlier this year, was highly competitive and resulted in funding 37 projects aimed at transformational innovations in energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture, renewable power, building efficiency, vehicles, and other areas.

The $100 million, which represents the Agency’s second round of funding opportunities, is focused specifically on three areas of technology representing new approaches for biofuels, carbon capture, and batteries for electric vehicles: 

Electrofuels. ARPA-E is seeking new ways to make liquid transportation fuels - without using petroleum or biomass - by using microorganisms to harness chemical or electrical energy to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. Many methods of producing advanced and cellulosic biofuels are under development to lessen our dependence on petroleum and lower carbon emissions.  Most of the methods currently under development involve converting biomass or waste, while there are also approaches to directly produce liquid transportation fuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide, typically using photosynthesis.

The objective of this topic is to develop an entirely new paradigm for the production of liquid fuels that could overcome the challenges associated with current technologies.  Although photosynthetic routes show promise, overall efficiencies remain low. ARPA-E requests innovative proposals which can overcome these challenges through the utilization of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological approaches for the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to liquid transportation fuels. ARPA-E specifically seeks the development of organisms capable of extracting energy from hydrogen, from reduced earth-abundant metal ions, from robust, inexpensive, readily available organic redo active species, or directly from electric current.  Theoretically such an approach could be 10 times more efficient than current photosynthetic-biomass approaches to liquid fuel production.

Innovative Materials & Processes for Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies (IMPACCT).  Coal-fired power plants currently generate approximately 50% of the electricity in the United States.  While coal is a cheap and abundant resource, the continued reliance upon coal as an energy source could potentially have serious consequences in terms of global warming.

The objective of this topic is to fund high risk, high reward research efforts that will revolutionize technologies that capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants, thereby preventing release into the atmosphere.  ARPA-E seeks to complement existing DOE efforts in the field of carbon capture, led by the Office of Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory, by accelerating promising ideas from the basic research stage towards large-scale demonstrations and ultimately, commercialization.  Areas of interest include: low-cost catalysts to enable systems with superior thermodynamics that are not currently practical due to slow kinetics; robust materials that resist degradation from caustic contaminants in flue gas; and advanced capture processes that dramatically reduce the parasitic energy penalties and corresponding increase in the cost of electricity required for carbon capture.

Batteries for Electrical Energy Storage in Transportation (BEEST).  In this topic, ARPA-E seeks to develop a new generation of ultra-high energy density, low-cost battery technologies for long electric range plug in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs). The development of high energy, low cost batteries represents the critical barrier to wide-spread deployment of EVs, which if achieved would have a profound impact on U.S. oil security, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic growth.

The ambitious goals for this program are largely based upon the aggressive long term EV battery goals set forth by the United States Automotive Battery Consortium, a public-private collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and leading U.S. automotive companies. If successful, new battery technologies developed under this program will give electrified light-duty vehicles range, performance, lifetime, and cost required to shift transportation energy from oil to the domestically powered U.S. electric grid. ARPA-E's objective is to fund high-risk, high reward research efforts that will promote leadership in this emerging EV battery market. 

To submit a concept paper, please view the Funding Opportunity Announcements. Visit ARPA-E for more information and to see previously announced awards.

CO2 Solution Reveals Enzymatic Process for Recycling Power Plant CO2 Emissions

CO2 Solution Inc. (Quebec, Canada) received United States patent, 7,596,952 for a process and a plant for recycling carbon dioxide emissions from power plants into useful carbonated species. The patent provides for exclusivity in the field of using the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, or an analog thereof, for the capture of CO2 from any fossil power plant, where captured CO2 is converted into a carbonated species. The company believes that the patent has potentially significant value for efficient carbon capture in coal and other fossil fuel power plants.

The process for recycling carbon dioxide emissions from a fossil-fuel power plant into useful carbonated species primarily consists  of the steps: a) combustion of a fossil fuel, thereby generating heat and a hot exhaust gas containing CO2 and b) converting the heat into energy. The process is characterized in that it further comprises the steps of: c) cooling the exhaust gas; and d) biologically transforming at least a portion of the CO2 contained in the cooled exhaust gas into carbonated species, thereby obtaining a low CO2 exhaust gas and producing useful carbonated species. The low CO2 exhaust gas obtained in step d) can be released in the atmosphere without increasing the problem of greenhouse effect.

This patent is the fourth new patent received by CO2 Solution during 2009, in addition to the following:

U.S. Patent 7,514,056 ‐ Process and installation for the fractionation of air into specific gases; Protects the use of carbonic anhydrase for use in efficiently capturing CO2 from compressed air as part of an air‐separation unit for the production of oxygen. The Company believes that the patent can address the cost challenge that conventional air‐separation processes face due to ever increasing CO2 concentrations in ambient air. The specialty gas industry has shown interest in the patent and CO2 Solution intends to pursue possible commercialization opportunities therein.

U.S. Patent 7,521,217 ‐ Carbonic anhydrase having increased stability under high temperature conditions; Covers the Company’s proprietary enzyme ‘mutants’ which have increased thermal and industrial stability through genetic engineering.

Canadian Patent 2,443,222 ‐ A process and plant for the production of Portland cement clinker (equivalent U.S. Patent 6,908,507); Covers the use of the enzyme for the capture of CO2 from cement plant flue gas and the production of calcium carbonate for reuse in the cement making process, and has the potential to materially reduce overall carbon emissions from the cement production process.

Regarding the issuance of these four new patents, Mr. Glenn Kelly, President & CEO stated: “These patents build on our already broad intellectual property portfolio in enzymatic carbon capture, at a time when industry is increasingly searching for new ways to capture CO2 that are more efficient than conventional scrubbing technology. There has recently been heightened interest in the use of carbonic anhydrase in this context. As such, we believe these patents further solidify CO2 Solution’s technology leadership position in the field, and in the rapidly growing carbon capture space.”

ARPA-E Project Winners Feature Nanotechnology, Carbon Capture and New Energy Technologies

The Department of Energy at the end of October announced major funding for 37 ambitious research projects - including some that could allow intermittent energy sources like wind and solar to provide a steady flow of power, or use bacteria to produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. ARPA-E was originally established under the America Competes Act of 2007. In April of this year, President Obama announced $400 million in initial funding for ARPA-E through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $151 million in funding is being awarded through the Department's recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ("ARPA-E").  's mission is to develop nimble, creative and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing America's technology leadership.

This is the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving total of $400 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In announcing the selections, Secretary Chu said: "After World War II, America was the unrivaled leader in basic and applied sciences. It was this leadership that led to enormous technological advances. ARPA-E is a crucial part of the new effort by the U.S. to spur the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies, creating thousands of new jobs and helping cut carbon pollution." The grants will go to projects with lead researchers in 17 states. Of the lead recipients, 43% are small businesses, 35% are educational institutions, and 19% are large corporations. In supporting these teams, ARPA-E seeks to bring together America's brightest energy innovators to pioneer a low cost, secure, and low carbon energy future for the nation.

This first ARPA-E solicitation was highly competitive and oversubscribed, with over 3,600 initial concept papers received. Of those, approximately 300 full applications were requested and ultimately 37 final awardees through a rigorous review process with input from multiple review panels composed of leading U.S. energy science and technology experts and ARPA-E's program managers. Evaluations were based on the potential for high impact on ARPA-E's goals and scientific and technical merit. 

The project selections can be found in the table below. 

Lead Research Organization (Partner Organizations) DOE Grant Amount Lead Organization Location Project Description

1366 Technologies Inc. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Lab for PV Research) $4,000,000 Lexington, MA Renewable Power (solar) "Direct Wafer" technology to form high efficiency "monocrystalline-equivalent" silicon wafers directly from molten silicon, with potential to halve the installed cost of solar photovoltaics.

Agrivida, Inc. $4,565,800 Medford, MA Biomass Energy Cell wall-degrading enzymes grown within the plant itself that are activated after harvest, dramatically reducing the cost of cellulosic biofuels and chemicals

Arizona State University (Fluidic Energy, Inc.) $5,133,150 Tempe, AZ Energy Storage A new class of metal-air batteries using ionic liquids, with many times the energy density of today's lithium-ion batteries. Could enable long range, low cost plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

Arizona State University (Diversified Energy, North Carolina State University) $5,205,706 Tempe, AZ Direct Solar Fuels Cyanobacteria that produce and secrete fatty acids for biofuel feedstock using just sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as inputs.

Ceres, Inc. $4,989,144 Thousand Oaks, CA Biomass Energy Genes that enable energy crops to produce more biomass using less land (and lower quality land), less water, and less fertilizer than standard energy crops. This approach would provide sustainable biofeedstocks to displace oil and coal for fuels and power production.

Delphi Automotive Systems LLC (International Rectifier, Oak Ridge National Laboratory) $6,733,386 Kokomo, IN Vehicle Technologies New power electronics technology based on a Gallium Nitride on Silicon process with innovative thermal management that can enable up to 50% more efficient power delivery from batteries to electric motors.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (Bio Architecture Lab) $9,000,000 Wilmington, DE Biomass Energy Production of bio-butanol, an advanced biofuel, from macroalgae (seaweed). Seaweed is a potentially sustainable and scalable new source of biomass that doesn't require arable land or potable water.

EaglePicher Technologies LLC (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) $7,200,000 Joplin, MO Energy Storage High energy, low cost planar liquid sodium beta batteries for grid scale electrical power storage. Could enable continuous power from renewable resources, like wind and solar, and could support a highly stable and reliable grid.

Envia Systems (Argonne National Laboratory) $4,000,000 Hayward, CA Energy Storage High energy density Lithium-ion batteries with 3x better energy density than current batteries. Based on novel nano silicon-carbon composite anodes and manganese composite cathodes discovered at Argonne National Laboratory. Could lower the cost and speed the adoption of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.

Exelus, Inc. (Zeolyst International, Linde Process Plants) $1,000,000 Livingston, NJ Conventional Energy A novel catalyst to convert the olefins in refinery off-gas, which is currently flared and lost, into high-octane alkylate fuel. Could enable recovery up to 45 million barrels per year of gasoline.

FastCAP Systems Corporation (MIT) $5,349,932 Cambridge, MA Energy Storage A nanotube enhanced ultracapacitor with energy density approaching that of standard batteries, but with many times greater power density and thousands of times the cycle life. Could greatly reduce the cost of hybrid and electric vehicles and of grid-scale storage.

FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp. $8,325,400 Wibraham, MA Renewable Power (wind) A new high efficiency shrouded wind turbine able to deliver significantly more energy per unit of swept area. Could also reduce noise and safety concerns, enabling distributed wind applications.

Foro Energy, Inc. $9,151,300 Littleton, CO Renewable Power (geothermal) A new hybrid thermal/mechanical drilling technology for much faster drilling with less wear and tear on the drill bit. Could open up cost effective access to the geothermal energy in deep, hard basement rock, a potentially huge new source of domestically available, carbon-free baseload power.

General Motors Company (University of Michigan, HRL Laboratories, LLC, Dynalloy, Inc.) $2,655,174 Warren, MI Vehicle Technologies A shape memory alloy (SMA) energy recovery device to convert waste heat from car engines into electricity. Could significantly increase fuel efficiency in cars (most energy is lost as heat) and could be used in many other heat recovery applications.

Inorganic Specialists, Inc. (Ultramet, Inc., EaglePicher, Southeast Nonwovens, EMTEC) $1,999,447 Miamisburg, OH Energy Storage A silicon-coated carbon nanofiber paper for the anode of next generation Lithium-ion batteries. These low cost, manufacturable batteries could accelerate the deployment of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, shifting U.S. transportation energy from imported oil to the grid.

Iowa State University (Purdue University) $4,373,488 Ames, IA Direct Solar Fuels Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches to increase lipid production, carbon dioxide uptake, and thermal tolerance of algae for the production of biofuels directly from sunlight and CO2. Could make algae-based biofuels production economically viable.

ITN Energy Systems, Inc. (MAG Industrial Automation Systems, EPRI, Colorado School of Mines) $4,986,249 Littleton, CO Building Efficiency Solid-state electrochromic film on plastic substrates with roll-to-roll production process to substantially reduce the cost of electrically controlled smart windows for net-zero energy buildings. These windows reduce heating and cooling loads and minimize overhead lighting use.

Lehigh University $566,641 Bethlehem, PA Carbon Capture Electric field swing adsorption for carbon capture using high surface area conductive solid carbon sorbents. Uses electric fields to change the interaction of molecules on a surface, capturing and then releasing the CO2 using far less energy than current approaches.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology $6,949,624 Cambridge, MA Energy Storage An all liquid metal grid-scale battery for low cost, large scale storage of electrical energy. This new class of batteries could enable continuous power supply from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar and a more stable, reliable grid.

Michigan State University $2,540,631 East Lansing, MI Vehicle Technologies The wave disc engine, a gas-fueled electric generator that is five times more efficient than traditional engines for electricity production, as well as lighter and cheaper to manufacture. Could replace current generators for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Momentive Performance Materials (Soraa, Advanced Photonic Crystals) $4,519,259 Strongsville, OH Building Efficiency A high-pressure ammonothermal process for the inexpensive production of high quality, single crystal GaN substrates at high crystal growth rates. Could allow production of light emitting diodes (LEDs) at costs equal to current low-cost fluorescent lighting. LED lighting consumes as little as one tenth of the energy of current lighting options.

Nalco Company (Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL USA) $2,250,487 Naperville, IL Carbon Capture An electrochemical process for CO2 capture using Resin-Wafer Electrodeionization. Uses pH changes to adsorb and desorb CO2 from flue gas without energy intensive, costly processes such as heating or a vacuum.

NanOasis Technologies, Inc. $2,031,252 Richmond, CA Water Carbon nanotubes for reverse osmosis membranes that require less energy and have many times higher flux. Could dramatically reduce the cost and energy required for desalination to supply fresh water for our crops and communities.

Ohio State University (PSRI, CONSOL Energy, Inc., Shell/CRI, The Babcock and Wilcox Company) $5,000,000 Columbus, OH Carbon Capture Syngas Chemical Looping (SCL) to convert coal or biomass into electricity while efficiently capturing the CO2. Has successfully been demonstrated at laboratory scale; this project will scale it up to a pilot plant at the National Carbon Capture Center.

PAX Streamline, Inc. (Georgia Tech Research Institute) $3,000,000 San Rafael, CA Renewable Power (wind) "Blown Wing" technology for wind turbines. Creates a virtual airfoil by jetting compressed air along a wing. Can be dynamically adjusted to maximize power under a wide range of wind conditions. A new design that can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost.

Pennsylvania State University (Sentech Corporation) $1,900,067 University Park, PA Direct Solar Fuels Catalyst-coated titanium dioxide nanotube membranes to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into methane and other hydrocarbon fuels.

Phononic Devices, Inc (University of Oklahoma, California Institute of Technology, University of California at Santa Cruz) $3,000,000 Norman, OK Waste Heat Capture A new class of high efficiency thermoelectric devices and materials that use thermally insulating semiconductors with high thermal-to-electric conversion efficiencies. An astounding [60%] of U.S. energy is lost in the form of waste heat - from power plants, industrial processes, and vehicles. High efficiency thermoelectrics hold great promise to tap into this vast hidden energy resource while reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Porifera Inc. (University of California Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) $1,077,992 Hayward, CA Carbon Capture Carbon nanotubes integrated into polymer membranes to increase the flux of CO2 capture membranes by two orders of magnitude. Could enable much less expensive carbon capture from coal plants.

RTI International (Archer Daniels Midland Company, ConocoPhillips, Albemarle Corporation) $3,111,693 Research Triangle Park, NC Biomass Energy A single-step catalytic biomass pyrolysis process with high carbon conversion efficiency to produce a stable bio-crude "oil" with low oxygen content. The approach combines pyrolysis oil production, stabilization, and upgrading into one process.

Stanford University $4,992,651 Stanford, CA Building Efficiency Sensors, software, and controls to track and improve energy use patterns. Could lead to substantial reductions in building energy use by changing human behavior through timely information and usable controls.

Sun Catalytix Corporation $4,085,350 Cambridge, MA Direct Solar Fuels / Energy Storage A novel catalyst to greatly enhance the efficiency of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. An important platform technology for the production of solar fuels and for distributed energy storage systems.

United Technologies Research Center (Hamilton Sundstrand, CM-Tech, Inc., Worley-Parsons, Columbia University) $2,251,183 East Hartford, CT Carbon Capture Synthetic enzymes for capturing CO2 from coal plant flue gas streams. Uses a synthetic form of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which our bodies use to remove CO2. Could dramatically reduce the cost of carbon capture.

Univenture, Inc. (Rockwell Automation, Ohio University, Case Western Reserve University) $5,992,697 Marysville, OH Biomass Energy / Direct Solar Fuels A novel algae harvesting system that could dramatically reduce the energy cost necessary to harvest, dewater, and dry algae by using a novel absorbent moving belt harvester. This technology offers the potential to transform the economics of algae-based biofuel production by removing a major barrier to large scale commercialization.

University of California, Riverside $760,705 Riverside, CA Vehicle Technologies Alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cell membranes that eliminate the use of expensive catalyst materials. Potential to drastically reduce fuel cell costs and enable their widespread application in building and automotive applications.

University of Delaware (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northeastern University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Ames Laboratory, Electron Energy Corporation) $4,462,162 Newark, DE Vehicle Technologies Novel high energy density, low rare-earth content magnetic materials with double the energy density of current materials. Would decrease the weight and increase the efficiency of motors for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles and generators for advanced wind turbines. Also could greatly reduce U.S. imports of key rare-earth elements that are not domestically available.

University of Illinois (MC10, Inc.) $1,715,752 Urbana, IL Waste Heat Capture A novel thermoelectric waste heat harvesting device based on large area arrays of 1-D concentric silicon nanotubes. Can be inexpensively printed as stacked thermoelectric junctions. This low cost thermoelectric technology holds great promise to allow the U.S. to begin to harvest the more than 60% of its energy that it loses in the form of waste heat.

University of Minnesota (BioCee, Inc.) $2,200,000 St. Paul, MN Direct Solar Fuels Production of liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels directly from sunlight, water and CO2 using an artificial symbiotic colony of photosynthetic cyanobacteria and Shewanella, a hydrocarbon producing bacteria.

 

Porifera Commercializing Carbon Nanotube Membrane for Water Desalination and Carbon Capture

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has exclusively licensed to Porifera Inc. of Hayward a carbon nanotube technology that can be used to desalinate water and can be applied to other liquid based separation.  Carbon nanotubes -- special molecules made of carbon atoms in a unique arrangement -allow liquids and gases to rapidly flow through, while the tiny pore size can block larger molecules, offering a cheaper way to remove salt from water.  The technology could also be used to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants.

"The technology is very exciting," said Olgica Bakajin, who serves as chief technology officer of Porifera. "It's at the right place to take it to the marketplace."  Bakajin formerly worked at LLNL where she was recruited in 2000 as a Lawrence Fellow and then moved on to become chief scientist on the carbon nanotube project along with LLNL chemist Aleksandr Noy, another former Lawrence Fellow. The license was awarded through LLNL's Industrial Partnership Office.

Porifera is developing membranes with vastly superior permeability, durability and selectivity for water purification and other applications in the clean tech sector such as CO_ sequestration. The technology is based on discoveries made at the National Nuclear Security Administration's Lawrence Livermore Lab.

The technology first took off when it was funded by Livermore's Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program and supported by the Science and Technology Principal Directorate. Bakajin and Noy's research originally focused on using carbon nanotubes as a less expensive solution to desalination. The technique was first demonstrated using a nanotube membrane on a silicon chip the size of a quarter.

Recently, the team made up of Bakajin and Noy as well as another LLNL scientist, Francesco Fornasiero, and Porifera scientists Sangil Kim and Jennifer Klare, thought about different applications for the nanotube membranes.

"Carbon sequestration has always been at the back of our minds, as unique properties of carbon nanotube membranes provide critical advantages for potential use in carbon sequestration applications," Noy said. Bakajin agreed the membranes would separate CO2 from nitrogen in power plant emissions. The membranes would transfer the two gases at a different rate so that the CO2 could be separated and sequestered. Sequestering CO2 is a key strategy to help curb global warming.

"We've known about the possibilities for this for quite some time," she said. "The reason it makes sense to do it is because of the unique nanofluidic properties of carbon nanotube pores. We believe that our approach will work and we're looking forward to working with the Lab on this."

Recently, the Laboratory, Porifera, and UC Berkeley received more than $1 million from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop the carbon capture technique using the nanotubes.

ARPA-E's mission is to develop nimble, creative and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape, while advancing America's technology leadership. The grant is for two years. "It's the first time that this kind of grant has been given," Bakajin said. "It's on us to show that it's really worth it. The agency's success is going to depend on how well we do. "

In conjunction with other partners, Porifera also secured $3.3 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a small, portable self-cleaning desalination system that could be used in the field.

"If we can really make this work it is a game-changing technology," Bakajin said. "The goal is to go for any water…it could take out contaminants. It's a real challenge, and the technology has great potential."Porifera Inc. was founded in 2008 with the sole goal of commercializing carbon nanotube membrane technology. The R&D team includes the technology's original inventors.