Both presenters for this month’s LCA LAB Group meeting were Chemical Engineering PhD students co-advised in the UVA LCA LAB. Each shared exciting updates about their research related to decarbonization and energy transition.
Dipesh described his ongoing work related to catalytic methanation (i.e., conversion of CO2 into methane) to produce renewable natural gas from biogas produced at municipal wastewater treatment plants. Caroline shared about her ongoing work related to lithium recovery from geothermal brine (i.e., the working fluid used to produce low-carbon geothermal electricity). Both projects are supported by large multi-investigator grants from the US Department of Energy. Our lab’s newest member, Payton, is supported by a third DOE award related to decarbonization industrial polymers.
