January Meeting (Zoom) 01/12/2022

Decarbonizing Fossil Fuels for the Lowest Cost CO2-Free Hydrogen

Hydrogen will be an important chemical in any future energy infrastructure. Today, we use fossil fuels to produce hydrogen, but CO2 is generated as a byproduct. In the distant future, hydrogen will come primarily from water. For the transition, C-Zero is developing a low-cost pyrolysis process that uses high-temperature liquids to decompose natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon without producing any carbon dioxide. Utilizing fossil resources more sustainably can help lower the cost and shorten the time to transition to a fossil-fuel-free energy economy.

Dr. Eric McFarland, CTO & Board Chair of C-Zero; Professor, UCSB Chemical Engineering. Dr. McFarland's research is focused on fundamental catalytic and molecular reactions for the cost-effective production and use of energy and energy-related chemicals. His UCSB research group develops and uses new experimental systems to investigate chemical transformations on surfaces of molten metals and strong electrolytes at high temperatures.

He has published over 190 scientific papers and is the inventor on over 25 patents. McFarland has always worked closely with industry and is a board member and advisor for several technology companies, including Symyx Technologies and Gas Reaction Technologies. He received his BS and MS degrees in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley, and his PhD from MIT. He was on the faculty at MIT and moved to UCSB in 1991.

McFarland also studied medicine and earned an MD from Harvard Medical School. He did post-graduate training in general surgery, practiced part-time in emergency medicine, and worked as a volunteer physician for several relief agencies.