Program Summary
Portable power is vital to expeditionary military operations and has historically been available in two formats: battery power and fuel. Batteries are energy efficient, quiet, and in principle can be recharged from any available power source that can drive a voltage gradient. This latter energy-source-agnostic feature gives batteries unique operational flexibility. However, batteries are bulky due to their inferior energy density. Fuels, on the other hand, have a very high energy density and attractive size, weight, and power characteristics. However, fuels require resupply which requires a tactically restrictive, costly, and dangerous logistical tail.
DARPA’s Expeditionary Carbon Utilization for Energy Resilience and Stabilization (ExCURSion) program seeks to combine the advantages of batteries and fuels by developing a portable, closed, rechargeable expeditionary power system which stores energy as carbon-based fuel. The incorporation of carbon combustion, capture, and fuel regeneration into a single unit will marry the high energy density of carbon fuels with the rechargeability and operational flexibility of batteries.
ExCURSion will use a two-pronged approach to realize this system: development of high-rate carbon dioxide chemical reduction processes, and synthesis of materials that can selectively capture large quantities of carbon dioxide while maintaining a high degree of chemical and physical stability. Research in these areas will ensure expeditionary energy resilience, unlock new tactical capabilities, and alleviate logistical and environmental burdens brought about by dependence on critical minerals and fossil fuels.