Ingenuity Lab Carbon Solutions advances in NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

Ingenuity Lab Carbon Solutions (ILCS) has announced that it has been named as one of the 27 teams advancing in the US$2 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE. The competition sees scientists develop technologies to convert carbon dioxide emissions into products with high net value.

The ILCS team, headquartered in Edmonton of Alberta, Canada, has made it to the second round of competition. Its team of 14 has proposed to convert CO₂ waste emitted from a natural gas power plant into usable chemical products.

ILCS is comprised of a multidisciplinary group of scientists and engineers, and was formed in the winter of 2012 to develop new approaches for the chemical industry. ILCS is sponsored by CCEMC, and has also partnered with Ensovi for access to intellectual property and know how.

Launched in September 2015, the Carbon XPRIZE competition addresses global CO₂ emissions by incentivising innovative solutions to convert CO₂ from a liability into an asset. Co-sponsored by NRG and COSIA, the four and a half year competition is designed to address CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels, a leading contributor to climate change. Semi-finalist teams hail from Canada, China, India, Switzerland, Scotland and the US, and among the teams competing are leading carbon capture technology companies, top-tier academic institutions, non-profits and new startups. The advancing teams propose converting CO₂ into products as varied as enhanced concrete, biofuels, nanotubes, and fertilizer.

"The team's unique combination of talent has permitted ILCS to develop a technology that integrates life processes into a commercial, engineered solution. These solutions have the ability to transform an environmentally damaging waste product into a value-added product that can be the source for materials across all spectrums of modern society," said Dr Carlo Montemagno, Team Leader of ILCS.

Teams selected to participate in Round 2 of the competition will demonstrate their innovative technology at pilot scale at a location of their own choosing, using either real flue gas or simulated flue gas stream. Over a 10 month period, teams must meet minimum requirements and will be scored on how much CO₂ they convert and the net value of their products. Following the Round 2 judging, scheduled for November and December 2017, up to five teams in each track that score the highest will share a US$2.5 million milestone purse and move onto the finals of the competition, demonstrating their technology at real-world power plants.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/20102016/ingenuity-lab-carbon-solutions-advances-in-nrg-cosia-carbon-xprize/