Brooklyn-based Vycarb recently reached a significant milestone in storing low-purity CO2 in sea water. This convenient, low-cost solution has the potential to make CCS more affordable and accessible. I recently met with Vycarb CEO and Founder Dr. Garrett Boudinot to see the progress at their Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters. Founded in 2022, the startup is currently running a pilot on the East River, with positive, verifiable results poised for large-scale commercialization. Vycarb has addressed a major challenge to CCS by using ocean-based chemistry and real-time sensor technology to store CO2 in water as stable dissolved bicarbonate (HCO3-). As much of the world’s population concentrates on coasts with accompanying industrial carbon emissions, the ocean is a potentially convenient place to sequester carbon. The cost of geologic sequestration is often not practical, due to the need to compress and transport purified CO2 to suitable geologic formations. Vycarb’s system works with inexpensive, prevalent alkaline minerals as a feedstock with minimal power consumption. However, the benefits go beyond just being water-based. Purification of CO2 is one of the biggest challenges to traditional CCS. However, new test results show that with CO2 purity as low as 50%, Vycarb can incorporate 99% of CO2 gas into water. 85% of that CO2 is then converted to soluble bicarbonate (HCO3-). This exceeds initial targets with stable water chemistries that ensure storage upon discharge. The next step in commercialization field trials seeks to validate 99% CO2 water incorporation at just 10% purity. Vycarb has already tested as low as 1.5% in a laboratory. In other words, the CO2 concentration found in exhaust gas from the combustion of fossil fuels could be used directly, with no additional purification needed. Vycarb is concurrently working on independent validation of the results. As Vycarb CEO and Founder Dr. Garrett Boudinot puts it: Every industrial emitter we talk to faces the same problem: capturing and purifying CO2 before it can ever be stored is often the most expensive and technically complex part of the entire process. These results show that we can sidestep purification entirely to provide a full-stack CCS solution for a wide range of emissions sources. It’s an important proof point demonstrating the technical advancement and potential cost-savings of the Vycarb approach to permanent industrial decarbonization. Vycarb is also looking into interactions with other industrial point source emissions. While many of these emissions are already addressed with industrial emissions measures, like scrubbers, the remaining gases could impact the system. That impact could be a net positive. For example, the greenhouse gas N02 dissolved in water forms nitric and nitrous acids, which could be addressed by the alkalizing agent. However, more testing is being conducted. In addition, at a pH around 7.5, the output water is slightly more basic than surrounding water but does not have high enough mineral concentrations that could lead to precipitation or negatively impact wildlife. As such, water quality can improve with carbon sequestration, as coastal waters are often somewhat acidic. While this chemistry was studied with the potential to support shell formation in oyster farms, those farms also tend to avoid the other water quality issues that often accompany industrial emitters. While the output may not have a current valuable secondary use, there is still a strong business case to be made for affordable, convenient CCS. Vycarb team. Image credit: Vycarb Business Case The current system is at pilot scale in the Brooklyn Navy Yard using supplied CO2, with output into the East River. While it is already actively converting CO2, the scale is relatively small. Once fully validated, the next step is to scale up and commercialize the technology. However, there are multiple revenue sources to support verified, measurable CCS that is both convenient and low cost. In the US, the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture has been expanded and extended. While other initiatives face opposition from one side or the other, CCS has support from both people seeking to fight climate change and from large emitters, including fossil fuel companies. While we can debate whether this is the most effective application of tax dollars to fight climate change, by appealing to both sides of the aisle, CCS receives relatively stable support. For point source emissions, the tax credit offers $85/metric ton (MT) for captured and stored CO2. However, burning hydrocarbons converts hydrogen (atomic mass of ~1) into water and combines carbon atom (~12) with two heavier oxygen (~16) atoms. Roughly 2-3 times as much mass in CO2 is generated compared to the mass of the fuel, depending on the carbon concentration. As such, a coal plant could potentially receive more money in CCS credits to remove the CO2 produced from burning coal than they pay for the coal itself. A low cost means to remove CO2 and store it permanently could lead to rapid adoption. Additionally, 45Z tax credits are available for “Clean Fuel,” up to $1/gallon for non-aviation fuel and $1.75/gallon for aviation fuels, with the level of subsidy depending on lifecycle emissions. Those credits were recently extended to 2029. As ethanol producers already can claim low emissions under current evaluation frameworks (although those can be debated), additional sequestration from fuel production can let them access higher levels of tax credits. There are also voluntary credits up to ~$300/ ton, including credits that Vycarb has already sold under the DOE CDR purchase prize. Other countries also offer incentives, like the Denmark CCS fund. DKK 815 million ($127 million USD) per year can be disbursed to recipients. The fund is expected to support the achievement of 0.9 million MT of CO2 reductions per year from 2030. A little quick math would put the price per ton of CO2 over $143 in 2030. In addition, there are avoided compliance costs. In Singapore, CO2 emissions are currently taxed at $45/ton and are proposed to rise as high as $80/ton by 2030. EU ETS “cap and trade” system credits are currently trading at €82.42 ($95.66 USD) per MT. California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) carbon credits are currently trading around $79 per MT. And there are green premiums paid by consumers or other companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. Reducing emissions can also help companies reach sustainability goals. That not only helps with sustainability reporting, but also helps companies to potentially access capital associated with sustainable finance. The market for affordable CCS is potentially significant. Funding is also available, with Vycarb being backed by Shell, Rio Tinto, Idemitsu and others. Of course, policies can change, but the desire for resiliency means that there is still market potential even if incentives fluctuate in the short term. Image credit: Vycarb Carbon Time Machine After thinking through how the system works, you can think of Vycarb as essentially offering a carbon time machine. Hundreds of millions of years ago, CO2 levels were much higher. That CO2 dissolves into water to form carbonic acid, which is balanced by alkaline minerals. Then, plants evolved with photosynthesis, dropping CO2 levels. The remains of those plants then accumulated over hundreds of millions of years, eventually transforming into fossil fuels. Aquatic animals also evolved, which grew shells and skeletons out of the alkaline calcium dissolved in the world’s oceans. As those animals died, their calcium carbonate remains deposited on the ocean floor rather than dissolving, as oceans became less acidic from more CO2 being converted into oxygen by plants. Over hundreds of millions of years, those shells and skeletons became limestone, which rose out of the ocean with tectonic plates. Now, as CO2 levels are on a historically rapid rise, rain and ocean waters are becoming more acidic. Carbon dioxide dissolves out of the atmosphere into water where it slowly erodes minerals like limestone and eventually creates bicarbonate ions in the ocean. However, this cycle can take a long time, and we are adding CO2 far faster than the natural processes can remove it. Through natural processes, much of the atmospheric CO2 will eventually be absorbed by the oceans and react with eroded minerals. But it will not happen fast enough to prevent the cascading effects of climate change. Vycarb speeds up the process. Taking the CO2 from the industrial source and converting it into ocean bicarbonate before it enters the atmosphere. Essentially reaching a future state where CO2 has dissolved in water and reacted with alkaline minerals. Simply dumping the minerals in the water would be wasteful, would create local water quality issues and simply would not react with atmospheric CO2 fast enough. And while the earth has survived periods of higher CO2 concentrations and temperatures before as the chemistry worked out over time, it has also gone through multiple mass extinctions in the process. Most of us want to avoid mass extinction. Vycarb CEO & Founder Dr. Garrett Boudinot. Image credit: Vycarb Potential Applications Of course, this does not replace the need for carbon emissions reductions. Vycarb openly admits this. More efficient processes for sequestering carbon do not replace the need to stop turning hydrocarbon deposits into CO2 in the first place. However, as long as we are emitting CO2, capture and storage help. Fossil fuels will keep being burned and we cannot wait for their replacements to take over before acting to reduce the impact. In addition, while a large share of CO2 emissions come from fossil fuel combustion, it isn’t the only source. The system is agnostic to the alkalizing agent, and a number of alkaline industrial waste materials could be used. However, the most prevalent mineral feedstock is calcium carbonate, (aka, CACO3 or limestone). The system also does not need lab purity chemicals or tightly controlled sizes, with the demonstration using common aglime (agricultural limestone), frequently used as fertilizer. In addition, as there are well-developed supply chains and transportation of limestone, the feedstock is inexpensive and readily available. However, it does take roughly 2 tons of limestone to remove 1 ton of CO2. Cement accounts for 8-10% of global CO2 emissions. For comparison, personal vehicles make up 10-11% globally. Making cement strips CO2 from limestone/calcium carbonate, which is then reabsorbed as it hardens. Even if the energy source is clean, CO2 is still being released. As long as people use cement, sequestration can help. And, as limestone is the primary input of making cement and an alkalizing agent used by Vycarb, the supply chain economics make sense for cement kilns near the ocean. Another potential application is sewage treatment. Sewage treatment accounts for as much as 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than shipping or air travel. While we can cut fossil fuel use, we all release organic waste matter. The bacteria that digest organic matter produce methane and CO2, with the methane ideally burned to produce CO2, which is a less potent greenhouse gas than methane. However, coastal wastewater treatment plants already have access to water and already need to adjust pH, making them a strong candidate for Vycarb. Overall, while we transition away from fossil fuels, affordable CCS can help mitigate the impact of CO2 emissions. We will need to continue reduce and remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. CO2 will continue to be released, even if we eliminate fossil fuels. Even composting releases CO2. However, reaching net zero alone may not be enough to reverse the damage we have done. Vycarb’s recent results show a potential accessible option to help to address the problem.
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