Aramco Americas, the US company owned by the Saudi Aramco and Oregon-based startup Element 1 Corp. (e1) have begun a joint research program to integrate Aramco’s carbon capture technology with e1’s methanol-to-hydrogen generator.
E1 Marine, a recently formed division of e1 is looking at building methanol to hydrogen reformers for marine use.
This new collaborative effort, announced towards the end of 2021, is set to look at how CO2 from emission scan be extracted from engine exhaust and stored ready for subsequent delivery off trucks. and marine vessels.
In a press statement Esam Hamad, PhD, Aramco’s global project leader of mobile carbon capture is quoted: “Aramco is advancing the development of sustainable transportation solutions and our innovative work with mobile carbon capture technology aligns with e1’s approach to low carbon mobility.
Such technologies will not remove all CO2 from engine exhaust but Aramco and e1 have suggested it could be cut by half. From e1 perspective the locally captured CO2 can be then utilised further for hydrogen generation.
“This joint effort represents a unique opportunity to provide a critical and widely needed hydrogen sourcing solution to fuel cell applications with an extremely attractive carbon footprint,” said e1 CEO and founder Dave Edlund, PhD.
