A Washington State University-led team has been selected for a $4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop a proof-of-concept electric vehicle (EV) charging station that relies on inexpensive bioethanol to produce carbon-negative electricity. The three-year project will require researchers to develop EV charging station technology that will be independent of the electric power grid.
Funded by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the work is led by Su Ha, George Austin Endowed Director in WSU’s Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, in collaboration with researchers at 3G&S US, LLC, an energy technology company, and Nissan Technical Center North America in Michigan.
The unique system in development achieves carbon-negative hydrogen production using raw bioethanol. The technology uses a chemical reaction to convert bioethanol into hydrogen, which can be used to produce electricity in a fuel cell, and liquid bicarbonate, which can then be transformed into value-added products. The electricity can be stored in recycled batteries on-site to be used in the EV charger. The technology simplifies current hydrogen production efforts by operating at lower temperatures and by integrating the conversion process and carbon dioxide removal in a single step.
Read more from WSU: Federal grant supports development of grid-independent EV charging stations | WSU Insider | Washington State University