Corey Tyree and Trillium Renewable Chemicals spotlighted by Department of Energy
The company is part of an effort to accelerate the innovation and adoption of cost-effective technologies that eliminate industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
“For a kid like Corey Tyree, growing up in rural Kentucky meant there weren’t many professional engineers or entrepreneurs to bump into,” according to an article published by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy (DOE). “In fact, bumping into people isn’t common at all in Frenchburg, where the woodland creatures nestled in the rolling hills of Appalachia were his closest neighbors. So, when Tyree pursued a chemical engineering degree, it was more of a gut instinct—a curiosity about the unknown—that he followed after graduating high school.”
Noting that he had an aptitude for math, like his brothers, but had never met an engineer, Tyree chose a mostly unfamiliar field like chemical engineering because “it fit with my personality” and also aligned with his interests and skills. “Engineering also represented something novel, something unfamiliar. That opportunity to choose the unknown is definitely something that attracted me,” he added.
That adventurous spirit carried Tyree from an undergraduate degree to a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, followed by work in the energy industry. In 2021, he launched Trillium Renewable Chemicals, Inc., to meet the growing demand for renewable chemicals in chemical manufacturing. The following year, the company that is based in Knoxville was awarded funding from DOE’s former Advanced Manufacturing Office to scale up and de-risk a low-carbon version of acrylonitrile—a chemical used to create materials for cars, electronics, aerospace, toys, apparel, sporting goods, and water treatment.
AMO is now supported by the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office with the mission to accelerate the innovation and adoption of cost-effective technologies that eliminate industrial greenhouse gas emissions. How is Trillium Renewable Chemicals helping with that goal? Tyree explains it in this article.
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