The latest measurement of CO2 (at March 12) was 414.06ppm, compared with February 2019’s 412ppm average, and 360ppm 25 years ago (let alone pre-industrialisation’s estimated 250ppm), according to Azeem Azhar’s weekly newsletter, so there is plenty to do.
Reducing emissions through renewable power generation is helpful in this goal but agriculture, industry and transport are heavy carbon emitters, and so decarbonisation also requires some forms of capturing the gas from the air. Carbon Clean Solutions (CCSL), a UK-based low-cost CO2 capture and separation technology, is one company tackling this challenge and it raised $16m in mid-February from three global investors: corporate venturing unit Chevron Technology Ventures, Japan-based trading conglomerate Marubeni Corporation and private equity firm Wave Equity Partners.
Aniruddha Sharma, chief executive and founder of CCSL, joined last year’s GCV Symposium in London where he was introduced to Chevron by its first investor, Martin Haemmig, and as a World Economic Technology Pioneer it has developed a powerful technology through its pilot phase. CCSL will use the money to work on existing projects for steel, cement, refining and petrochemicals and waste incineration plants, and to also invest in the development of “containerised” solutions as it looks to achieve $30/tonne cost of CO2 capture by next year.
Barbara Burger, president of oil major Chevron’s corporate venturing unit, said: “We invest in breakthrough technologies that both lower emissions in oil and gas and are integral to low carbon value chains. Our investment in Carbon Clean Solutions aims to help commercialise and scale carbon capture utilisation and storage technologies, a key part of delivering on our commitment.”
“With CCS’s innovative and cost-competitive technology, we are very keen to jointly develop carbon capture utilisation and storage business across the world by leveraging our global networks deeply rooted in various industries. We strongly believe that this breakthrough technology enables us to realise circular economy, maximising the value of CO2 as the resources,” added Eiji Okada, chief operating officer of Marubeni’s plant division.
In one of the great challenges of our time, innovation rather than year zero-style destruction offers the greatest hope.
