(Invited) Scalable Synthesis of Low Carbon Fuels via CO2 Electrolysis

Over three trillion tons of greenhouse gasses have been emitted since the start of the industrial revolution, with dire consequences for our climate, including an increase in the regularity of natural disasters such as heatwaves, wildfires, and hurricanes. Cost-effective, industrial-scale CO2 recycling using renewable energy sources could form the basis of an artificial carbon cycle to produce the same products that are currently derived from fossil resources while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Towards this end, Twelve is developing a highly efficient and scalable electrochemical reactor that converts CO2 into valuable building blocks for chemicals and fuels such as carbon monoxide (CO). The resulting CO can be blended with green hydrogen from water electrolyzers to form syngas, enabling an ultra-low carbon pathway to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via the Fischer-Tropsch process. At scale, this technology could eliminate the aviation industry’s dependence on fossil resources by providing an alternative source of carbon-based compounds for jet fuel. Twelve is presently scaling up the technology to reduce production costs and achieve industrially relevant production rates. This talk will present Twelve’s CO2 electrolysis technology and highlight collaborative development efforts towards our commercialization goals.