On Tuesday, Washington state venture-backed energy startup OCOchem announced it has received a $1.5 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to develop green portable energy generators and fuels for refrigerated cargo containers at the Port of Tacoma, one of the largest deepwater container ports in North America.
“We are very honored to receive this grant to demonstrate how recycled carbon dioxide, water, and clean electricity can be converted into an electro-fuel to replace fossil fuel use in hard to de-carbonize applications like portable and back-up power. This new green energy will be used at the Port of Tacoma to power new electro-fuel generators to keep Washington fruit cool in refrigerated cargo containers waiting to leave the Port,” OCOchem CEO and Co-Founder Todd Brix said in an announcement of the grant.
“We expect this project to reduce not only CO2 emissions at the Port, but also to cut air pollution emissions generated from the Port’s fossil fuel-based portable generators, making the air safer for nearby residents to breathe, reduce noise pollution, and cut energy costs,” he added.
The Washington Clean Energy Fund grant adds to the $2.5 million investment OCOchem and its partners have committed to invest on this ground-breaking project. Since 2013, the Clean Energy Fund has invested in research, development, and demonstration of technologies that are helping Washington state lead the transition to a clean energy future.
Founded in 2017, OCOchem has previously received R&D funding from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, ARPA-E and is an inaugural member of Halliburton Labs. For this new project, OCOchem will work with a team of partners, including Washington Maritime Blue, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Sacre-Davey Engineering, Johnston Engineering, and Norway’s Det Norske Veritas (DNV).
OCOchem has developed an electrolyzer device that converts recycled carbon dioxide emissions, water, and non-fossil fuel-generated electricity into green hydrogen that is embodied in an energy-dense non-flammable liquid hydrogen carrier form, which makes it easier, safer, and cheaper to store and transport than hydrogen gas.
OCOchem says it has distinguished itself from competitors by using only naturally occurring clean formic acid for its liquid hydrogen carrier. This is a non-flammable energy-dense liquid that can be stored in existing storage tanks at ambient temperature and pressure, making it cheaper and safer to store, transport, and use. The goal is for regional public utility Tacoma Power to use this new electro-fuel technology to replace fossil fuels currently used by diesel generators at the Port of Tacoma and to store energy in a safe, stable energy-dense liquid form.
“The project will demonstrate the compelling economic and environmental use of this new liquid e-fuel technology to decarbonize and electrify mobile, emergency, and back-up power generation applications that currently rely upon diesel and gasoline for commercial and residential applications,” said Cam LeHouillier, Manager of Energy Research and Development at Tacoma Power.
“This approach is as carbon neutral as green hydrogen gas but is much safer, uses existing fuel infrastructure and is delivered at nearly half the price,” Brix said. “We believe Washington state and Tacoma are the best place to manufacture safe green electro-fuels for local and export use, creating high-wage manufacturing jobs.”
