Circularity fuels, INC.: new award vision open 2024, control# 3387-1967 project title: efficient, compact conversion between electricity or geologic hydrogen and synthetic natural gas with the rise of…

The Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Circularity Fuels, Inc. a $4 million Cooperative Agreement on March 3, 2026, under the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy program (CFDA 81.135).

Circularity Fuels will design and build a 5 megawatt subunit for a utility-scale reactor system using sorbent-enhanced catalysts to convert electricity or hydrogen into synthetic natural gas. The sorbent-enhanced catalytic approach captures and converts atmospheric carbon to methane more efficiently than existing multi-step reactors by directly utilizing heat from CO₂ hydrogenation to drive CO₂ desorption. Upon completion, this subunit will represent the largest sorbent-enhanced catalysis reactor of its kind globally and enable the company to commercialize utility-scale synthetic natural gas production using modular reactor systems. The technology leverages the existing 2 million miles of natural gas pipeline infrastructure within the United States to utilize stranded clean energy from curtailed renewables and natural hydrogen sources.

Performance is located in Redwood City, California, with a period of performance from March 3, 2026, through March 2, 2029. The funding supports exploratory research in catalysis with potential to enable large-scale synthetic natural gas production and cost-competitive e-fuels at scale.

Circularity fuels, INC.: new award vision open 2024, control# 3387-1967 project title: efficient, compact conversion between electricity or geologic hydrogen and synthetic natural gas with the rise of curtailed renewables and natural hydrogen, there is increasing availability of stranded clean energy. Natural gas is a high-density energy molecule for which extensive spare transportation capacity already exists within the USA. Circularity fuels has therefore designed and built a reactor that uses sorbent-enhanced catalysts to efficiently capture and convert atmospheric carbon to methane. Our sorbent-enhanced catalytic reactors are more efficient than existing multi-step reactors because they directly utilize the heat from the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to drive the desorption of the CO2. These reactors efficiently convert electricity (used to produce hydrogen with an electrolyzer) or hydrogen into natural gas, enabling the more than 2 million miles of gas pipelines in the USA to be utilized as part of the intermodal energy super highway. In order to achieve this goal we aim to design and build a 5 MW subunit for a utility scale reactor system at the completion of this project. This subunit will be the largest sorbent enhanced catalysis reactor of its kind in the world and enable the company to start commercializing utility scale natural gas production, with modular reactor systems that can produce fuel anywhere. This project represents a significant step forward in exploratory research related to catalysis, has the potential to enable the large-scale use of synthetic natural gas by utilizing existing infrastructures, and will enable the production of cost competitive e-fuels at scale.