A startup is looking to not only remove one of the world's worst pollutants from the atmosphere, but immediately transform it into fuel to power cargo ships.
TechCrunch has the scoop on Aerleum, a company founded in 2023 by venture capitalist Sébastien Fiedorow and scientist Steven Bardey. The duo is looking to innovate direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide.
Right now, most DAC efforts focus on the challenges of removing carbon by using large sponges, per TechCrunch. The process is costly and difficult. As damaging as the pollutant is, it only represents 0.04% of the air we breathe. What to do with it after capturing it is also complicated.
It could be sold to oil companies that put it back into reservoirs, which dulls the benefits of carbon removal. Another option is selling to sequestration startups, which put it back into the earth. One more potential buyer is chemical companies, who transport it to convert it.
Bardey and Fiedorow surveyed the available options and saw an area ripe for a solution. The pair formed Aerleum to cut out the middlemen.
"Should we really have to get through all of these steps, or can we just bypass some of them?" Fiedorow asked TechCrunch while explaining their thinking. Instead of sending away the carbon dioxide to someone else, Aerleum does the work.
They use a proprietary material to absorb carbon and then convert it to another compound. The current target is an alcohol, methanol. Cargo ships can run on it, and it can also be an ingredient in aviation fuel and other concoctions.
The process is straightforward, with their proprietary sponge capturing carbon within a box. They close the box after the sponge is filled. Hydrogen gas is then injected, which produces methanol after the chemical reaction. To complete the process, they purify the methanol and extract it.
Zooming out, DAC is an exciting opportunity to address the worrisome amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The pollutant rose some 20% over the last 40 years, per government reporting.
The surge contributes to the dangerous warming of the planet that heats our oceans, and exacerbates extreme weather events like Hurricane Helene. While transitioning to green energy and shifting away from dirty energy is a great step, carbon capture will also be a key tool to combat the troubling trends.
That's why it's exciting to see innovation in DAC from scientists, big companies like GE, and smaller startups like Aerleum or Avnos.
Aerleum's efficiencies are to be commended in reducing wasteful transportation and simplifying the DAC process. The company is now aiming to produce methanol at under $1,200 per metric ton. That falls short of the current location-dependent rates of $380 to $780 per metric ton.
Fiedorow is confident that Aerleum can get in the mix in five years with an offering of $650 per metric ton.
"That's where we start to be super competitive, even with fossil fuels," he told TechCrunch.
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