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Skyonic carbon capture plant on track for 2014 start-up

World Cement,


Carbon capture and mineralisation

Skyonic Corporation has received US$128 million in funding for its commercial-scale carbon capture and mineralisation plant in a project with Capitol Aggregates Cement in San Antonio, Texas. The Capitol SkyMine plant is expected to remove more than 300 000 t of CO2 and produce carbon-negative products including sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid when it is retrofitted to the existing cement plant. Ground breaking is to begin this summer, and the plant should be fully operational in 2014. The SkyMine plant is intended to directly capture 83 000 t of CO2 from Capitol Aggregate’s emissions, and by using this captured CO2 to make products that would ordinarily come with their own carbon footprint, the process will offset a further 220 000 tpa.

Turning problems into profits

“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 in a statement from the company. “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.”

Skyonic’s technology is designed to economically extract and mineralise carbon dioxide from industrial fuel gas, converting into products such as backing soda, hydrochloric acid and limestone that can be sold on a commercial scale. ‘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,’ the company said in a statement.

Funding

Investors include Cenovus Energy, BlueCap Partners, Toyo-Thai Corporation Public Company Limited, Energy Technology Ventures, Berg & Berg Enterprises, Northwater Capital Management, ConocoPhillips, BP Ventures, PVS Chemicals and Zachry Corporation. Of the total US$128 million, secured over three rounds, US$80 million is from Apollo Investment Corporation and Maxus Capital Group. In addition to the SkyMine project, the funds will help support the advancement of Skyonic’s global IP portfolio of profitable carbon chemistry solutions, R&D and other operations expenses. Skyonic was founded in 2005 by inventor and CEO, Joe Jones and is located in Austin, TX.

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/26062013/skyonic_secures_funding_for_carbon_capture_plant_24/

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