September 2020
Name: Prajwal Prakash Adiga
Department: Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering
School: Oregon State University
Project: Selective oxidation of sea water using earth abundant electrodes
Research Advisor: Dr. Kelsey Stoerzinger
The splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas (electrolysis) holds the potential to store renewable electricity (like solar) as chemical fuels, subsequently recombined in a fuel cell to yield electricity. With 71% of the earth's surface covered with (less than ultra-pure) water, seawater electrolysis can offer an urgently needed method of CO2-free renewable energy storage without competing for potable water. The chloride salts in seawater, though, compete with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to form toxic chlorine gas due to similar standard oxidation potentials, which must be avoided for safe and sustainable operation. My project seeks to control selectivity between oxygen and chlorine using earth abundant electrodes. To do so, I will develop real-time online electroanalytical techniques for selectivity determination, address issues related to charge buildup on the electrode surfaces causing lower electricity-to-H2 efficiency and improve the stability of electrodes for longer life span. This work will help develop earth abundant electrodes that selectively and efficiently generate oxygen, complementary to the hydrogen production in seawater electrolysis, and pave the way for efficient and economical energy storage mechanisms using under-utilized natural resources like seawater and solar energy.
Name: Will Gorman
Department: Energy and Resources Group
School: University of California, Berkeley
Project: Electric reliability, distributed energy resources (DERs), and the impact of consumer preferences in California
Research Advisors: Dr. Duncan Callaway
Concerns about grid reliability for life-saving electric services have grown amidst natural disasters such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and wildfires in California. In response, investments in customer-sited distributed energy resources installations have increased. However, how much should society pay for resiliency? Furthermore, should these investments be made by electricity end users or by centralized utilities trying to enhance reliability for all? To answer these questions, my project investigates the historical and ongoing adoption of back-up power in California in light of the recent power safety public shutoffs to estimate the drivers of back-up power installations. I aim to generate the first revealed-preference estimates of the value of lost load. Then, I will build a techno-economic model to explore the opportunity for microgrids to provide cost effective resiliency. These results will not only provide key insights to electric system planners in California who are currently deciding how to make cost-effective investments to avoid wildfires but can also inform future investments in grid resiliency across the world as extreme weather events increase the reliability strain on electric grids. This research helps inform the current debate between a distributed vs. centralized energy future.
Name: Elizabeth Hann
Department: Botany and Plant Sciences
School: University of of California, Riverside
Project: A combination electrochemical-biological system for the production of liquid fuel from CO2
Research Advisors: Dr. Robert Jinkerson
Biofuels from algae offer many advantages over petroleum derived fuels, including a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for renewable, domestic production. However, all biofuels suffer from the biological limitations of photosynthesis. Due to the low efficiency of photosynthesis, large areas of land are needed for biomass cultivation to produce substantial quantities of biofuel, potentially destroying wild lands and natural CO2 sinks.
By coupling CO2 electrolysis to heterotrophic production of liquid fuels, I will improve the energy, carbon, and water efficiency of photons to fuel. Photovoltaic solar cells have much higher photon conversion rates than photosynthesis. The electricity they create can be used to power an electrocatalysis reaction that converts CO2 into reduced carbon sources. These carbon sources can be used for the heterotrophic production of algal biomass, bypassing photosynthesis entirely. Triacylglycerides from algae can then be extracted and converted into biodiesel through a simple transesterification reaction.
This unique combination of technologies will improve the overall efficiency of photons to liquid fuel by several fold while increasing CO2 utilization efficiency for biomass production. Unlike a system based on photosynthesis, this system has the potential for large improvements in efficiency as technologies behind photovoltaic solar cells and CO2 electrolysis continue to improve. This approach will be transformative for the production of sustainable liquid fuels.
If you would like to find out more about our Link Foundation Energy Fellows and projects that have been funded in the field of Energy by the Link Foundation, please visit the Link Energy Fellowship webpage at http://www.linkenergy.org/fellows