Theme 3

The Theme 3 research group led by Dr. Marc Strous, PhD, is engaged in developing processes for CO₂ conversion and sequestration, as well as for producing hydrogen or electricity from petroleum reservoirs. The research team converts CO₂ to fuel and commodity chemicals by combining recent advances in low-temperature and mixed metal oxide catalysts with new, porous electrode materials for electrolytic cells. The researchers convert CO₂ to biomass by combining designer microbiomes with printed electronics 
(organic solar cells).

For CO₂ sequestration, they make use of the uniquely instrumented Alberta field site at the Containment and Monitoring Institute (CaMI). For carbon capture, Theme 3 researchers are developing new metal-organic frameworks and process configurations. This research envisages petroleum reservoirs as geological microbial fuel cells or flow batteries, with electrodes placed inside the reservoir or electron shuttles recycled between the reservoir and an above ground fuel cell.