Nes

The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and in the oceans is a pressing challenge that requires rapid de-carbonization of the global economy. Negative emissions technologies, which remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans for the purposes of sequestration or potential utilization, most likely will be needed to augment other mitigation strategies. The underlying science needed to make negative emissions technologies globally scalable still requires major scientific breakthroughs. Such breakthroughs in Negative Emissions Science (NES) almost certainly will result from multidisciplinary input, including from chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, engineering, and geophysics. This Scialog will challenge early-career scientists in these and related fields to explore together how to advance fundamental science in the design of novel approaches for rapidly removing and utilizing or sequestering greenhouse gases.

2023 Team Awards

Understanding, Quantifying and Mitigating Adsorbent Degradation: From Fundamental Understanding to Techno-economic Analysis

  • Fani Boukouvala
    Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
    Georgia Institute of Technology  

    Kyriakos Stylianou

    Chemistry
    Oregon State University  

    Liang Feng

    Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
    Duke University  

ML-ROCKS: Machine Learning Reaction Optimization of Carbonation KineticS

  • Rachel Davidson
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of Delaware 

  • Michael Ross
    Chemistry
    University of Massachusetts Lowell 

  • Wen Song
    Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment
    University of Texas at Austin  

Gas Capture by Tuning Electric Fields in Conductive MOFs

  • Douglas Reed
    Chemistry
    University of Washington  

  • Eva Nichols
    Chemistry
    University of British Columbia  

  • Xin Xu
    The Polytechnic School
    Arizona State University  

Cow Burps to Butanol: Bio-electrocatalytic Valorization of Methane to Butanol

  • Michael Ross
    Chemistry
    University of Massachusetts Lowell 
  •  
    Ariel Furst
    Chemical Engineering
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology  

  • Joshua Jack
    Civil & Environmental Engineering
    University of Michigan  

Modular Production of Aviation Fuel from Point Source Biogas Via Zoned Joule Heating

  • Zhe Qiang
    Polymer Science and Engineering
    University of Southern Mississippi  

  • Marc Porosoff
    Chemical Engineering
    University of Rochester  

  • Yuan Yao
    School of the Environment
    Yale University  

Achieving Speed and Scale: Self-Amplifying Adsorbents for Negative Carbon Emissions

  • Benjamin Snyder
    Chemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
  • Caroline Saouma
    Chemistry
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University  
  • Yuzhang Li
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    University of California, Los Angeles  

Plastic Waste to DAC: A Study of the Chemical and Lifecycle Feasibility of Converting Polyolefin Waste to Aminopolymers for Direct Air Capture

  • Rebecca Ciez
    Mechanical Engineering & Environmental and Ecological Engineering
    Purdue University  

  • Michael McGuirk
    Chemistry
    Colorado School of Mines  
  •  Funded by RCSA
     Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
     Funded by ClimateWorks Foundation
2022 Team Awards

BioDAC: Integrating Enzyme Engineering & Electrochemistry for Sustainable Acrylate Production

  • Ahmed Badran
    Chemistry / Integrative Structural and Computational Biology
    Scripps Research Institute *

  • Jimmy Jiang
    Chemistry
    University of Cincinnati *
  • Shaama Mallikarjun Sharada
    Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
    University of Southern California *

Electro-swing Modulation of Lipophilic Environments for Direct Air Capture of Methane

  • Yuanyue Liu
    Mechanical Engineering
    University of Texas at Austin ^

  • Phillip Milner
    Chemistry and Chemical Biology
    Cornell University ^

  • Marcel Schreier
    Chemical and Biological Engineering
    University of Wisconsin – Madison ^

Surface Charge-induced CO2 Solvent Regeneration Via Free Volume Manipulation

  • Chibueze Amanchukwu
    Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
    University of Chicago *

  • Yayuan Liu
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    Johns Hopkins University *

  • Houlong Zhuang
    Engineering of Matter, Transport & Energy
    Arizona State University ^

Sunlight Driven CO2 Capture and Release

  • Kandis Leslie Abdul-Aziz
    Chemical and Environmental Engineering
    University of California, Riverside *

  • Mita Dasog
    Chemistry
    Dalhousie University *

Robust Scalable Multifunctional Electrode for CO2 Reduction and C-C Coupling in Seawater

  • Will Bowman
    Materials Science and Engineering
    University of California, Irvine †

  • Jose Mendoza
    Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
    Michigan State University †

  • Hang Ren
    Chemistry
    University of Texas at Austin †    

Triple-intensified Process for Direct Carbon-negative Methanol Synthesis from Biogas

  • Anindita Das
    Chemistry
    Southern Methodist University *

  • Simona Liguori
    Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
    Clarkson University *

  • Rafael Santos
    School of Engineering
    University of Guelph *

A Radical Approach to Negative Methane Emissions

  • Adam Holewinski
    Chemical & Biological Engineering
    University of Colorado Boulder ^

  • Anna Wuttig
    Chemistry
    University of Chicago ^
  • * Funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
    ^ Funded by RCSA
    † Funded by ClimateWorks Foundation

2021 Team Awards

Electrocatalytic Activation and Cycling of Moisture-Swing Direct Air Capture Materials

  • Matthew Green
    Chemical Engineering
    Arizona State University †

  • Gary Moore
    School of Molecular Sciences
    Arizona State University †

  • Emily Ryan
    Mechanical Engineering
    Boston University †

Carbon Dioxide-Methane Coupling with Electric-Field-Polarized Microelectrodes

  • Zhou Lin
    Chemistry
    University of Massachusetts Amherst *

  • Yayuan Liu
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    Johns Hopkins University *

  • Sen Zhang
    Chemistry
    University of Virginia *

Photochemical Amine Production from N2 and CO2

  • Marta Hatzell
    Mechanical Engineering
    Georgia Institute of Technology †

  • Kathryn Knowles
    Chemistry
    University of Rochester †

  • Jose Mendoza
    Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
    Michigan State University †

Carbon Dioxide Removal from Seawater Driven by a Visible Light-Induced pH Gradient

  • David Kwabi
    Mechanical Engineering
    University of Michigan †

  • Michael Nippe
    Chemistry
    Texas A&M University, College Station †

Novel Membrane Design for Hybrid Ocean Capture and Desalination

  • Matthew Green
    Chemical Engineering
    Arizona State University *

  • Katherine Hornbostel
    Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
    University of Pittsburgh *

  • Jenny Yang
    Chemistry
    University of California Irvine *

Electrified Low-Temperature Process for CO2 Capture and Conversion (e-LT-C3)

  • Charles McCrory
    Chemistry
    University of Michigan †

  • Carlos Morales-Guio
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    University of California, Los Angeles †

CO2 Conversion to Bioplastics via Electrochemical-Bio Synthesis

  • Andrea Hicks
    Civil and Environmental Engineering
    University of Wisconsin – Madison *

  • Chong Liu
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of California, Los Angeles *

  • Haotian Wang
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineerin
    Rice University *

Electric-Swing Solid State Sorbents for Direct Air Capture of CO2

  • Adam Holewinski
    Chemical & Biological Engineering
    University of Colorado Boulder *

  • Katherine Hornbostel
    Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
    University of Pittsburgh †

  • Yuanyue Liu
    Mechanical Engineering
    University of Texas at Austin *

    * Funded by RCSA
    † Funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
2020 Team Awards

Electrifying Humidity-Swing Adsorption for DAC by Modulation of Redox-Polymer Hydration

  • Shaama Mallikarjun Sharada
    Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
    University of Southern California †

  • Burcu Gurkan
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    Case Western Reserve University †

  • Xiao Su
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign †

Using Electrochemistry to Improve Selectivity of Plasma-Assisted CO2 Reduction

  • William Bowman
    Materials Science and Engineering
    University of California, Irvine †

  • Eva Nichols
    Chemistry
    University of British Columbia †

  • Robert Coridan
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of Arkansas †

Integrated Low-Temperature Electrified Process for CO2 Direct Air Capture and Transformation to Solid Carbon

  • Kathryn Knowles
    Chemistry
    University of Rochester *

  • Carlos Morales-Guio
    Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    University of California, Los Angeles *

  • Robert Coridan
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of Arkansas *

Investigation of the Carbonation Dynamics of Synthetic Silicates: Guiding the Development of Net-Negative Production Process and Deployment in Enhanced Rock Weathering

  • Rafael Santos
    School of Engineering
    University of Guelph ††

  • Pratik Dholabhai
    Physics and Astronomy
    Rochester Institute of Technology *

  • Andrea Hicks
    Civil and Environmental Engineering
    University of Wisconsin – Madison *

Bricks from The Ocean: Hybrid Microbial-Electrochemical Mineralization of CO2

  • Nanette Boyle
    Chemical & Biological Engineering
    Colorado School of Mines *

  • Shu Hu
    Chemical and Environmental Engineering
    Yale University ††

Solar-Augmented Direct Air Capture of Methane Using Methanotrophic Bacteria

  • Nanette Boyle
    Chemical & Biological Engineering
    Colorado School of Mines *

  • Chong Liu
    Chemistry and Biochemistry
    University of California, Los Angeles *

Envisioning a Low Carbon Built Environment through Innovative Electrochemical and Chemical Processing of Construction Materials and Enhanced Circular Reuse

  • Greeshma Gadikota
    Civil and Environmental Engineering
    Cornell University ††

  • Venkat Viswanathan
    Mechanical Engineering
    Carnegie Mellon University ††

Electrochemically Driven Reactive Capture of CO2 from Air Using Azolium-Carboxylates

  • Wilson Smith
    Chemical and Biological Engineering
    University of Colorado Boulder *

  • David Kwabi
    Mechanical Engineering
    University of Michigan *

  • Robert Gilliard
    Chemistry
    University of Virginia *

    Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
    † Funded by RCSA
    †† Funded by the Thistledown Foundation