In the United States (US), Bloom Energy Corporation, a global leader in fuel cell electricity generation, and Chart Industries, Inc., a global leader in energy and industrial gas solutions, have announced a carbon capture partnership that will use natural gas and fuel cells to generate near zero-carbon, always-on power.
In announcing this partnership, the companies aim to offer a solution to customers, like data centers and manufacturers, seeking power solutions that can be deployed rapidly without compromising reliability or emission goals.
As part of the partnership, Chart will use its carbon capture know-how to process Bloom’s high-purity carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaust stream into outputs that are ready for utilization or sequestration.
The CO2 utilization market serves as an important near-term term bridge to carbon sequestration in locations, where sequestration infrastructure is not available or permitted.
According to Morgan Stanley, more than 500 million tonnes per annum of carbon storage capacity is expected to come online within the next five years.
As sequestration capabilities grow in the United States and globally, CO2 utilization provides an immediate pathway to repurpose captured carbon while supporting long-term decarbonization efforts.
Chart is a global leader in carbon capture. We are excited to bring this expertise to Bloom and their unique platform which is capable of not just producing reliable power but also a concentrated CO2 stream. Working with a market leader in solid oxide fuel cells, we see exciting opportunities for our partnership in both sequestration and utilization markets. We are already working on projects where the captured CO2 will be utilized in the food and beverage industry, said Jill Evanko, CEO of Chart Industries.
High volume and purity
Efficient carbon capture depends on the purity of CO2 in the exhaust stream, which varies widely across power generation technologies.
Conventional technologies that generate electricity from natural gas through combustion—such as gas turbines and reciprocating engines—produce exhaust streams with approximately 5 percent CO2.
Capturing such low-concentration emissions remains technically complex and costly.
In contrast, Bloom’s proprietary high-temperature fuel cell (HTFC) technology converts natural gas without combustion, yielding a CO2-rich stream that has 15 times lower mass flow and ten times the CO2 concentration, making the capture process more efficient and less costly.
Our partnership with Chart aims to demonstrate that cost-effective, onsite baseload power from natural gas with carbon capture is feasible at scale. Bloom fuel cells generate electricity without combustion, producing a concentrated CO2 stream that lowers extraction costs, making carbon capture more affordable and efficient. For energy-intensive industries like data centers and large manufacturers, this will provide a path to reliable, scalable power while significantly reducing carbon emissions. I am excited about the opportunities this partnership can unlock and the positive impact on our planet, said KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Bloom Energy.
