Carbon Conversion

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Carbon Conversion Program invests in research, development, and demonstration of technologies that convert captured carbon emissions, primarily carbon dioxide, into economically valuable products such as chemicals, fuels, building materials, plastics, and bioproducts. 

The Carbon Conversion Program is currently supporting the following technologies, categorized by the conversion mechanism:

• Mineralization pathways focus on thermodynamically favorable processes where carbon dioxide mineralizes with alkaline reactants to produce inorganic products like bicarbonates, synthetic aggregates, and other building materials. 
• Biological pathways leverage agriculture, fermentation, and genetic engineering expertise to convert carbon dioxide into products via microorganisms, including algal systems and non-photosynthetic microbes.
• Catalytic pathways utilize thermochemical, electrochemical, photochemical, reactive capture, and plasma-assisted approaches to transform carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels, chemicals and products. 

The Carbon Conversion Program is working to support efforts to enable low-carbon supply chains through: 

• The research, development, and demonstration of a broad suite of technologies that convert captured carbon emissions into economically valuable and environmentally responsible products
• Creating publicly available techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis tools 
• Accelerating the deployment of large-scale conversion of carbon dioxide-derived fuels, chemicals, and products 
• Engaging with industry, academia, policymakers, and communities to facilitate widespread adoption of effective carbon conversion technologies

Last Updated: January 16, 2025