Carbon Clean’s Aniruddha Sharma on the rising adoption of CCUS technology

Tell us about CCUS and its growing role in decarbonisation.

There is no net zero without carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

CCUS addresses the emissions from the hardest-to-abate sectors including cement, steel, and oil & gas, which account for around 30 per cent of all global emissions.

Point-source technology, like Carbon Clean’s, captures emissions at the source and prevents them from entering the atmosphere. Alongside a mix of other clean tech solutions, CCUS will play a critical role in the decarbonisation of all heavy industries.

Give us an overview of Carbon Clean’s proprietary CCUS technology and how it aims to revolutionise industrial carbon capture.

We are revolutionising the carbon capture industry with our breakthrough technology, CycloneCC, which eliminates the two biggest, historical barriers to widespread adoption: cost and space.

CycloneCC is our newest innovation and it’s focused on scalability – achieving significant reductions in cost, deployment time and physical space through a fully modular, prefabricated, skid-mounted carbon capture solution.

CycloneCC significantly cuts the total cost of ownership (TCO), by reducing capex and opex by up to 50 per cent compared to conventional carbon capture solutions. In terms of size, the equipment is 10 times smaller than conventional carbon capture units.

The first deployment of a CycloneCC industrial unit anywhere is in the Middle East. We are now focused on scaling CycloneCC so it can be mass produced and deployed globally.

Tell us about Carbon Clean’s recent expansion into the Middle Eastern market through partnerships with ADNOC and Fertiglobe.

In October 2023, Carbon Clean expanded its presence in the Middle East when ADNOC selected our innovative modular CycloneCC technology for a carbon capture project at Fertiglobe’s nitrogen fertiliser plant in Abu Dhabi.

The project represents a significant milestone in our mission of delivering industrial decarbonisation on a gigatonne scale. It brings us one step closer to achieving the full commercialisation of this modular solution, which will play a vital role in decarbonising heavy industries and enabling them to meet net-zero targets.

With over 100 active patents and $195m in equity investment raised to date, Carbon Clean has garnered significant attention and support. Can you discuss the role of investors such as Chevron, CEMEX, and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures in advancing your tech and projects?

When we raised our Series C in May 2022, it was the largest-ever funding round for a point-source carbon capture business. Then, our goal was to become the world’s leading provider of carbon capture solutions for heavy industry – and that remains the case today.

We’re achieving this goal through the development of proprietary carbon capture technologies that are revolutionising the industry. Our investors, which include some of the most influential global energy and industrial companies, provide invaluable support towards the development and commercialisation of these breakthrough solutions, including through their market experience and long-term outlook.

Carbon Clean recently announced its entrance into the marine sector through a joint development agreement with SAMSUNG E&A for onboard carbon capture solutions (OCCS). What opportunities does Carbon Clean see in this sector?

The maritime sector is of significant strategic importance to us. We’ve partnered with SAMSUNG E&A to optimise CycloneCC for use onboard ships. With equipment ten times smaller than conventional carbon capture units, our modular CycloneCC technology is ideally suited to an environment where space is extremely limited.

Shipping accounts for 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so it’s important to enable vessels to capture the carbon dioxide they emit while operating.

We were also awarded the carbon capture equipment supply contract for Ørsted’s FlagshipONE eMethanol project in Sweden, which will combine biogenic carbon dioxide with renewable hydrogen and supply up to 55,000 tonnes of eMethanol per year to the shipping industry.

How does the company envision its technology being a blueprint for other sectors in the journey towards decarbonisation?

All heavy industrial companies exploring options for decarbonisation will need to adopt carbon capture. But there is no silver bullet to reducing CO2 emissions. Carbon capture is one of the solutions needed to achieve net zero, in addition to other clean technologies such as renewables, electrification, green hydrogen and biomass.

In Abu Dhabi, our project with ADNOC will be the first deployment of a CycloneCC industrial unit anywhere in the world. This project will become the blueprint for how we want to work moving forward with other hard-to-abate sectors, where we have existing partnerships with leading global companies. Our focus today is scaling our innovative technology at speed.

Can you speak to the Middle East’s genuine competitive advantage in industrial decarbonisation, particularly in the context of Carbon Clean’s recent expansion in the region?

If it wasn’t clear already, COP28 showed how decisive a role the Middle East will play in industrial decarbonisation and in achieving net zero more broadly. Remember, last year’s conference in Dubai was the first to mention carbon capture in the final agreement.

We expect the Middle East to become one of the world’s most sophisticated clean tech hubs over this decade. The region has the capital and willingness to invest in the first-of-a-kind projects needed to accelerate the scale-up of clean tech. This is complemented by strong regional public-private sector collaboration, creating a solid underlying investment environment.

The other differentiator in the Middle East is the experience and specialist expertise many industrial companies have in carbon capture technology. This builds a platform for deep collaboration and creates an opportunity for the region to be a pioneer in adopting innovative carbon capture technologies.

As you participated in the recent World Future Energy Summit, what outcomes or advancements would you like to see emerge from the event, particularly about clean energy and CCUS technologies?

I was pleased to see a focus on the more complex technical challenges for decarbonisation and the power of partnerships at the recent World Future Energy Summit.

The EU-GCC Green Transition Project announced at the summit is particularly exciting, signifying an important step forward in creating a supportive business environment across Europe and the Middle East, boosting innovation and making it easier to share ideas and build networks. Collaboration and partnership are front and centre of any successful project, and I believe this will set the foundation for a strong, future relationship between the two regions.