Skyonic to Build World’s First Commercial-Scale Carbon Capture and Mineralization Plant

Skyonic Corporation today announced that it has secured $128 million that will be used to support the construction of the world’s first commercial-scale carbon capture and mineralization plant, which is expected to account for the profitable removal of more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

The company will break ground this summer at Capitol Aggregates Cement in San Antonio, Texas, where the Capitol SkyMine carbon capture plant will be retrofitted. The funds will also help support the advancement of Skyonic’s global IP portfolio of profitable carbon chemistry solutions and other R&D and operations expenses.

The new funding includes equity investments from new investors Cenovus Energy, BlueCap Partners, Toyo-Thai Corporation Public Company Limited, and Energy Technology Ventures. These companies join previously announced investors Berg & Berg Enterprises, Northwater Capital Management, ConocoPhillips, BP Ventures, PVS Chemicals, and Zachry Corporation.

“The Capitol SkyMine plant will mark the first time that carbon-negative chemistry has reached the commercial stage,” said Joe Jones, founder and CEO of Skyonic. “Our unique, patented process means that emission problems can become emission profits. The carbon-negative products produced, which include sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid, will displace the carbon-positive products currently sold. This is a crucial step towards a cleaner global manufacturing industry.”

The equity and debt funding, together with $28 million in funding under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, will be used to construct the Capitol SkyMine plant in San Antonio, Texas. The retrofit plant is expected to directly capture 83,000 tons of CO₂ from the Capitol Aggregates’ emissions.

By using this captured CO₂ to make products that would otherwise generate additional CO₂, the plant will offset an additional 220,000 tons annually, once fully operational in 2014. Skyonic is expected to create more than 200 jobs through the plant’s construction and ongoing operations.

Skyonic’s electrolytic SkyMine technology will selectively capture CO₂, acid gases and heavy metals from the flue gas and mineralize the captured pollutants into safe, stable, solid products. The plant is expected to turn a profit from the sale of these products within three years. Because the plant operates at energy-efficient conditions and produces valuable products using low-cost chemical inputs, SkyMine captures CO₂ at a substantially lower cost than other carbon capture technologies, allowing industrial emitters to turn a profit from reduced emissions.

Skyonic will host a groundbreaking event this summer to celebrate the commencement of construction. Joe Jones, and other dignitaries will speak at the event.

Source: PR Newswire

Image: Skyonic SkyMine Plant

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