Carbon-to-Liquids Development Center (C2L)
The Challenge
America and other nations face an unprecedented transportation fuel crisis. Petroleum fuel, a lifeblood of our economy for almost 100 years, is entering a sustained period of supply shortage due to huge demand increases from growing economies in Asia and elsewhere. This new demand is here to stay and likely to intensify, causing more price increases, price volatility, political manipulation of oil supplies, and global instability as competition for dwindling supplies intensifies. This is already impacting our energy, economic, and homeland security. Government, commercial, and finance leaders around the world are now taking action.
Since one solution is unlikely, a suite of new technologies and energy sources will be needed to address the challenge. One of those solutions is carbon-to-liquids technology, which the U.S. Department of Energy projects could supply 10% of the nation's transportation fuel in just 20 years. As new fuels and technologies like this are developed and deployed, the challenge we must meet is that they be more sustainable and less of a burden on the environment than current technologies.
Southern Research Supports Carbon-to-Liquids Technology Development
Southern Research has committed to supporting the development and optimization of C2L technologies in a way that produces cleaner burning transportation fuels, reduces life- cycle greenhouse gas emissions, provides fuels at competitive prices, and uses domestic carbon resources such as waste products, nonfood-based bioenergy crops, non-invasive species, forest products and other domestic carbon supplies. Southern Research has created a unique new energy laboratory that will help developers optimize and commercialize their technologies, integrate them with value-added technologies, and collaborate with new partners and clients.
The Southern Research Carbon-to-Liquids (C2L) Development Center is located in Durham, NC. It will facilitate the commercial development and acceptance of new technologies that convert America's diverse, non-petroleum carbon sources into high- value products such as clean diesel fuel, jet fuel, methanol, ethanol, ammonia and electric power. The Center opened in 2007 and is available for use by commercial, government, and research institutions that are interested in developing and commercializing carbon-to-liquids technologies.
