In early February, scientists from across the world gathered at the Telluride Science and Innovation Center for a YCNCC-sponsored workshop to discuss research and ideas related to electrochemical carbon capture. Electrochemical carbon capture can offer lower energy consumption, enhanced selectivity, and greater scaling potential via compatibility with modular, distributed industrial infrastructure relative to conventional methods of carbon capture. The workshop also explored potential applications of electrochemistry for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and industrial carbon utilization.
The workshop convened electrochemistry experts to foster collaborative discussions and further the field. The assembled scientists work across a range of molecular, materials, and process levels, including assessing CO2 binding and release, thermodynamics of capture cycles, process modeling, and pathways for material regeneration and degradation. A major goal of the workshop was to identify and align on common principles and bottlenecks that are slowing progress. Scientists shared results and various early-stage ideas to promote new co-disciplinary partnerships and chart a roadmap for future work. The scope of this workshop included both concentrated and dilute capture contexts—including point-source emissions, direct air capture, ocean capture, and reactive capture systems that integrate separation with downstream electrochemical transformation.
Presentations and discussion spanned from pure research to full scale development and launching of electrochemical carbon capture systems. Fundamental work was presented on pH-swing and CO2-binding mechanisms, granting research backing to presentations on pilot-scale capture demonstrations. Representatives from industry, including the mCDR companies Equatic and Captura, presented updates on their removal efforts at the kiloton per year scale.
There was ample free time during the workshop for collaborative discussions among researchers and developers to discuss ideas and research themes. One evening of the conference was reserved for a public-facing session on carbon capture. This event was attended by about 50 local Telluride residents and consisted of a presentation and moderated Q+A session. The final day included a discussion among workshop participants around key workshop themes. A perspective article summarizing outcomes from this discussion is currently in preparation for distribution to the rest of the electrochemical carbon capture researcher and development community.
The workshop, sponsored by YCNCC, was co-organized by YCNCC Faculty and Associate Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering David Kwabi, Yayuan Liu from Johns Hopkins University, and Mim Rahimi from the University of Houston. Additional participants hailed from sixteen institutions and three independent agencies. Along with Yale, affiliations included Cornell University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh University, The National University of Singapore, New York University, Rice University, Stony Brook University, the University of British Columbia, UCLA, University of Cambridge, University of Houston, the University of Michigan, University of Toronto, and Washington University in St. Louis. Attendees from industry included Total Energies, Captura Corporation, and Equatic.
