Calgary-based See02 Energy is banking that its cutting-edge technology will help turn the scourge of greenhouse gas emission into high-value fuels and chemicals.
The Challenge
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are soaring to record-breaking levels not seen in 800,000 years.
“Our goal is to transform CO2 from a liability to a profitable asset while reducing the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and lowering our collective carbon footprint at the same time,” says Dr. Paul Addo, an expert in energy conversion and storage, advanced materials, and electrochemical systems. Addo and co-founder Dr. Beatriz Molero Sanchez, launched See02 Energy to tackle the problem
The Solution
Working within University of Calgary Professor Viola Birss’s chemistry laboratory as postdoctoral fellows, Addo and Sanchez, at the time both Mitacs Elevate interns, developed technology that captures and converts carbon dioxide into high-value products.
With the help of Innovate Calgary, the postdocs transferred the IP from the university to launch their start-up, SeeO2 Energy. The company’s product is a high-temperature electrolyzer that uses CO2 from waste streams, and converts it into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, syngas and pure oxygen, all of which can be used downstream or sold for profit.
The Impact
For every ton of CO2 removed and re-used, three tons of CO2 emissions are eliminated, Molero explains. “If our commercial-scale units were to be used by our end users, such as green plastics or petrochemicals producers, we would significantly decrease CO2 emissions — equivalent to removing 100 million cars off the roads or 700,000 jet planes out of the skies,” she says.
A successful benchtop prototype has been completed, and the company is now securing seed funding to develop a larger-scale field test unit; testing is scheduled to start in 2020. The first companies to test the technology include a U.S.-based green plastic producer and ATCO Energy. Commercial shipments are expected to start in 2021.