Dr. Matthew A. Pellow
Who: Dr. Matthew A. Pellow, Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University
What: Are Synthetic Fuels Greener? Cathode Catalyst Performance and Life-Cycle CO2 Emissions
Where: Room 202, 2360 East Mall, Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBC
When: 4 p.m., Oct. 8, 2015
Dr. Matthew A. Pellow, a postdoctoral scholar in energy systems analysis at the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University, is a guest speaker in the first seminar hosted by the Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute, UBC’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and the Clean Energy Research Centre.
ABSTRACT:
Low-temperature electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 is one possible approach to convert CO2 into liquid fuels. This talk will evaluate the full life-cycle emissions of this route for methanol production by the electrocatalytic six electron reduction of CO2, with a focus on the performance of the CO2 reduction (cathode) catalyst. The analysis identifies technical scenarios in which the life-cycle emissions for this electrocatalytic route would be lower than those of the conventional natural gas-based methanol production process. This talk will discuss the impact of different sub-processes and the methodological challenges of estimating the emissions intensity.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY:
Matthew A. Pellow is a postdoctoral scholar in energy systems analysis at the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University. His research at GCEP analyzes the life-cycle energy and emissions balance of energy conversion and storage technologies, with a focus on sustainable fuels. He was previously a research chemist at General Electric Global Research in Niskayuna, New York. He holds a PhD in inorganic chemistry from Stanford University and a BA in chemistry from Columbia University.