May 19 2009
Carbon Sciences, Inc. (CABN), the developer of a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into gasoline and other fuels, today announced significant technology development breakthroughs that shorten the path to commercializing its CO2-to-Fuel technology.
Previously, the company had planned on developing a mini-pilot plant as the next scale up of its CO2-to-Fuel technology, where additional performance data would be obtained in order to design a full scale commercial pilot plant. However, recent breakthroughs in the nano-engineering of the biocatalyst, encouraging prototype performance results and molecular based computer modeling of the biocatalytic process have provided the development team with a direct path to full scale pilot design.
Dr. Naveed Aslam, the company's CTO, explained, "Current state-of-the-art computer aided process engineering (CAPE) tools allow system designers to design industrial scale plants with a high degree of confidence, with respect to its real-world performance. However, CAPE tools require very good input data for the performance of proprietary processes, such as our biocatalytic CO2-to-Fuel process. In traditional chemical engineering, the performance data of a prototype, or bench top system, vary dramatically from that of the pilot plant. Therefore, engineers were required to build a medium scale, or mini-pilot plant, to fine-tune the process before gaining confidence in the performance of a full-scale design. Because our CO2-to-Fuel biocatalytic process is optimized as a nano-machine, its performance at a higher scale is very predictable. Recently, we have developed accurate low-level molecular models of our biocatalysts, based on prototype experiments, to drive the CAPE simulations of a full scale CO2-to-Fuel plant. We now believe that we can go straight from our prototype, to a CAPE tool, to a full scale pilot plant design for implementation by a strategic partner."
Commenting on this exciting development, company president, Byron Elton, said, "This breakthrough saves us the time and the capital required to develop a mini-pilot plant. We are honored and fortunate to have Dr. Aslam, an expert in molecular modeling and CAPE tools, leading our development effort. We believe this will shorten our original go-to-market timeline by at least a year. The recent media coverage of Carbon Sciences, has resulted in partner inquires from all over the world. The interest in our proprietary CO2-to-Fuel technology is significant, and we look forward to working with qualified strategic partners in the near future."
Carbon Sciences was featured in recent articles in USA Today, New York Times, Newsweek Magazine, as well as being recognized during a Congressional hearing on carbon recycling.
Carbon Sciences Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the basic fuel building blocks required to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other fuels. Innovating at the intersection of chemical engineering and bio-engineering disciplines, we are developing a highly scalable biocatalytic process to meet the fuel needs of the world. Our solution to energy and climate challenges is to enable a sustainable world of fuel consumption and climate stability by recycling CO2 into fuel. For example, Carbon Sciences' breakthrough technology can be used to recycle CO2 emitted from fossil fuel power plants into gasoline to run cars and jet fuel to fly aircraft.