(Editor’s note: this press release was published on our Alumnus’ website Carbyon on November 28, 2023 and is reposted here with their permission. See original article)
Eindhoven, the Netherlands (November 28, 2023) – Dutch Direct Air Capture (DAC) company Carbyon has successfully proven that their unique fast-swing process is able to capture CO2 using less than 2,500 kWh/ton. Carbyon was the world’s first to drastically reduce the CAPEX costs of DAC equipment using their fast-swing process. The company has now found the missing piece to also sufficiently lower the energy consumption, making this breakthrough a giant leap towards a cost-effective DAC technology below $100/ton.
In its pursuit for a low-cost DAC solution, Carbyon invented an ultra-fast CO2 capturing material. Where conventional materials need hours to capture CO2 from air, Carbyon’s can do the same in only a few minutes. In this way, each kilogram of their material captures up to 5 ton of CO2 annually. This allows for compact DAC machine design, resulting in a CAPEX cost below $50/ton. Initially the fast-swing process suffered from collateral water adsorption, introducing an energy penalty. The recent breakthrough discovery massively reduces water uptake, resulting in an energy demand below 2,500 kWh/ton, while preserving their CAPEX benefits.
Carbyon is the first Direct Air Capture company to merge low CAPEX with low energy demand, thanks to their unique fast-swing process.
In light of the COP28, starting in Dubai this week, breakthroughs like these show that Direct Air Capture is becoming a mature solution that can help to meet our climate targets. To limit global warming to 2°C, the IPCC scenarios show that besides the necessary emission reductions, also vast amounts of CO2 need to be removed from the atmosphere. Direct Air Capture is marked as one of the important technologies that can enable fast and durable CO2 removal.
“Our relentless stare-down with Mother Nature’s laws of physics finally gave us the insights into how to solve this puzzle. This is a major team achievement, 2.500 kWh/ton is a challenging milestone for any DAC technology. Demonstrating this with an all-electric, low-CAPEX technology puts Carbyon in pole position to reach the $100/ton target that the market is looking for. Nothing can stop us now!” – Hans de Neve, founder and CEO of Carbyon
Carbyon’s breakthrough led to fundamental understanding of working principles empowering them in their mission to even further reduce the technology’s energy demand. The company is rapidly growing and is currently developing their first engineering-scale machine, that will be validated in the field together with pilot partners. So far, the company has raised $10M and is currently raising a Series A round to finance upcoming activities.
For more information and inquiries, please contact
Beatrix Bos
media@carbyon.com
Photo by Bart van Overbeeke.
