Published on June 18th, 2021 📆 | 3072 Views ⚑
0ExxonMobil, FuelCell Energy Partner on ‘Game Changing’ Technology |
ExxonMobil may be a leader in research and development into carbon reduction technologies, but they know they donât have all the answers.
Thatâs why the company partners with smaller companies, including Danbury-based FuelCell Energy, to develop technologies that reduce carbon emissions.
âWe collaborate with companies like FuelCell and itâs been a very good collaboration,â Andrew Sinclair of ExxonMobil said June 11 at CBIA's 2021 Energy & Environment Conference.
âTheyâre not the only company we partner with, but itâs an example of a smaller company that is on the cutting edge of R&D and energy development.â
The partnership between the companies began in 2016 and they are now in their second joint development agreement, said Jennifer Arasimowicz of FuelCell.
She and Sinclair discussed the joint effort to develop new technologies.
Addressing Climate Change
Arasimowicz explained how FuelCellâs technologies address climate change.
âOur carbonate fuel cells are installed in multiple types of configurations,â she said. âThey take any type of a methane-rich fuelâwhether itâs natural gas, propane, landfill gas, biogasâand through a chemical conversion with no combustion, turn that into electricity.â
Their fuel cells at wastewater treatment plants take the gas from plant digesters and use it to produce electricity.
The process creates thermal energy thatâs also put to use.
âWe have multiple installations that serve as combined heat and power units,â Arasimowicz explained.
For example, heat from FuelCell installations at a Pepperidge Farms bakery in Connecticut is used to preheat ovens.
'Game Changer'
Arasimowicz called FuelCellâs carbon-capture technology a âgame changerâ because itâs a carbon-separation process that produces electricity as opposed to more traditional technologies that consume substantial amounts of electricity.
ExxonMobilâs work on carbon capture is part of a longstanding effort to reduce its carbon footprint, said Sinclair, the companyâs manager of Northeast Public & Government Affairs.
âFor the last four years, weâve been driving down our methane emissions by 15%,â Sinclair said. âOur next goal set for 2025 is to reduce our methane emissions by 40% to 50%.
âThese are not lofty targetsâwe have developed aggressive plans to mitigate emissions.â
ExxonMobil recently launched a low-carbon solutions business to commercialize a portfolio of low-carbon technologies.
âCarbon capture and storage is front and center, the premier suite of projects that weâre looking at,â Sinclair said.
Biofuel Focus
Sinclair is located at ExxonMobilâs Global Innovation Campus in Clinton, N.J., home to over 1,000 scientists who work to address the dual challenge of energy providersâmeeting the worldâs growing demand while lowering emissions.
They are working on reducing emissions from things that would be difficult to electrifyâaviation, heavy trucking, and shipping.
âThereâs not a line of sight to scale on for an electric Boeing 737,â he said. âWe do not have a scalable technology for long-haul trucks and the same for [shipping].â
So ExxonMobil has focused on biofuelsâadding a bio component to a diesel fuel to greatly reduce its carbon footprint.
They are also developing a process that uses algae for fuel production.
Its benefits include not competing with corn, a food source; it can grow in brackish water so it wonât strain fresh water sources; algae consume carbon dioxide, have a much lower emissions profile, and yield more biofuel per acre than plant-based biofuels.
Unique Collaboration
The unique collaboration between ExxonMobil and FuelCell began a few years ago when scientists from FuelCell gave a presentation on their efforts.
In the audience were scientists from ExxonMobil. Afterward, they struck up a conversation.
âIt was a bunch of very smart scientists getting together in a room, realizing they were thinking the same thoughts, and working on the same technology,â Arasimowicz said. âWe decided that a collaboration made sense.â
And as big as ExxonMobil is, Sinclair said, âwe know we donât know it allâso we look to other companies and academia.â
âCollaboration and this notion that weâre in this togetherâletâs work together to develop these scalable solutionsâis deeply embedded in what weâre doing at ExxonMobil.â
For more information, contact CBIA's John Blair (860.244.1921).
Gloss