Energy utility Eni has co-led an $11.5m series A round for US-based gas decarbonisation technology developer C-Zero through strategic investment arm Eni Next.
The round was co-led by new energy investment vehicle Breakthrough Energy Ventures and also backed by industrial manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and venture capital firm AP Ventures.
C-Zero is the creator of a method of converting natural gas into hydrogen in order to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from processes such as power generation, heating and chemical production.
The technology was developed at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and involves splitting methane into hydrogen and solid carbon. The cash will fund the piloting of the system at commercial scale.
An unnamed spokesperson from Eni Next said: “Methane pyrolysis is very interesting to us, as clean and low CO2 hydrogen can be produced with limited consumption of energy and no water usage. Scaling up this process will potentially be an enormous advantage to produce hydrogen for energy or commodity chemical applications.”
