The problem

Wide scale electrification is being rolled out across many industries—but maritime and aviation industries will struggle, instead relying on a transition to e-Fuels. This will rely on the sustainable and scalable production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2). 

The problem is we simply don’t have sufficient access to clean CO2 in order to achieve large-scale decarbonisation. Extracting CO2 and hydrogen from the air is expensive and impractical, making the production of cost-effective e-fuels difficult.

The ocean offers an exciting solution, as a vast source of pre-concentrated CO2 and virtually infinite supply of H2, as well as constantly replenishing itself by pulling down CO2 from the atmosphere. But the principle method for extracting these—electrolysis—has unfortunately come at a high cost, making it unviable as a scalable source of e-fuel.

The solution

Brineworks has made a breakthrough in saltwater electrochemistry, to provide not only scalable CO2 extraction from saltwater, but a path towards the affordable, scalable production of e-fuels. 

Crucially, they project to be able to extract CO2 at less than $150/ton: well below the current cost of between $600-$1000/ton. These extracted chemicals are then used as the source of sustainable e-fuels for maritime (e-Methanol, e-Methane, e-Diesel) and aviation. 

They’ve developed a modular system that is more cost-efficient than electrodialysis, currently the dominant method for saltwater CO2 extraction. It also decentralises the production of e-fuels, removing reliance on geopolitical supply chains for energy and creating the possibility for fuel production anywhere you find seawater.

Why we’re excited to invest

George Northcott, President of Founders Factory & Partner at Blue Action Accelerator, says: “The opportunity around ocean carbon removal is enormous, and yet is something we’ve yet to see a cost-efficient, scalable solution for. That is until we met Brineworks. Founders Gudfinnur and Joseph have brought together top tier scientific specialisation with commercial expertise to pair the challenge around CO2 extraction with the commercial opportunity to produce sustainable e-fuels. We look forward to working with them to scale their solution globally.”