Hydro invests in carbon capture startup Verdox to further promote the goal of reducing carbon in electrolytic aluminum!

Hydro has invested $20 million in startup Verdox, a division of (MIT) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is commercializing an all-electric carbon capture technology. The new technology will be suitable for capturing carbon emissions from aluminum production processes and directly from the air. The technology will be used in Hydro's aluminum smelter to reduce its overall carbon footprint.

Aluminium is a key material for green transformation, and demand is expected to grow by 70 per cent by 2050, according to the International Aluminium Association (IAI). At the same time, the primary aluminum industry faces the challenge of reducing its carbon footprint in order to be in line with customers who are increasingly focused on sustainability. Therefore, capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sectors that are difficult to reduce emissions, including the aluminum industry, is essential for achieving international standards such as the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Agreement.

"Hydro's zero carbon aluminum production roadmap, including solutions for existing and new capacity," said Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president of Hydro Aluminium Metals. "Verdox's carbon capture technology will ensure the continued competitiveness of our existing smelters, while our groundbreaking new process technology HalZero will be used for new capacity. In this way, we increase our opportunities to achieve our climate ambitions and lead in the aluminum industry. "

Carbon capture technology

After developing a new carbon capture technology in 2019, MIT engineers decided to create Verdox as an independent company to commercialize the process. The technology can capture tail gas from industrial processes, as well as carbon dioxide directly from it.

Most carbon capture technologies are developed to capture emissions from fossil energy production and industries with high carbon dioxide concentrations (usually higher than 4%). But the concentration of CO2 in the tail gas of aluminium smelters is relatively low, about 1 per cent.

Hydro's research shows that capturing carbon dioxide directly from the tail gas can eliminate most of the direct emissions from the aluminum smelting process. The remaining emissions can be removed through a direct air capture system connected to the enterprise.

"Hydro has evaluated more than 50 carbon capture technologies and found that very few are suitable for aluminum production," said Kallevik. "the advantage of Verdox technology is that it can capture carbon dioxide from industrial waste gas and capture very low concentrations of carbon dioxide directly from the air."

Hydro partnered with Verdox in early 2021. Since then, carbon capture technology has been tested to assess its applicability in capturing carbon dioxide from the tail gas of Hydro's former aluminum smelter. The results of the initial assessment were satisfactory.

Verdox carbon capture technology will adsorb carbon dioxide from the industrial flue gas of the Hydro aluminum smelter through an electrical change absorber (Electro Swing), making it available for storage. Other carbon capture solutions rely on the heating and cooling of hot, pressure or liquid substances, while Verdox technology is fully electric, making the system entirely dependent on renewable energy sources and avoiding further carbon emissions.

The next phase of Hydro's partnership with Verdox involves testing and testing the technology at Hydro's aluminum smelter, with the goal of reaching industrial scale by 2030. Upon completion of the investment, Hydro will become a minority shareholder in Verdox.

Background information:

About Verdox

Earlier this year, Verdox announced that it had raised $80 million from investors, including the Breakthrough Energy Fund (Breakthrough Energy Ventures) led by Bill Gates.

Carbon capture technology separates CO waste from the air or exhaust gas from factory chimneys. At present, most technologies use liquid solvents that attract CO resin. Once the liquid catches the gas, it is heated to a temperature that allows the CO to be released. CO chips can then be compressed and injected deep underground for permanent storage.

All of these steps require a lot of energy, which makes the technology expensive. Despite decades of efforts, this traditional approach is still too costly to scale up to capture hundreds of millions of tons of CO emissions each year, putting the world on the path of net zero emissions.

Verdox has a different approach, and the company claims to be more effective and therefore cheaper. The company, which is separated from MIT, has developed a special type of plastic that can selectively extract CO from a mixture of air or exhaust gas when charged.

Once captured, the CO valve can be released as long as the voltage changes. The startup says the material can reduce the total energy needed to capture air directly by 70% or more. The startup will have to rely on low-carbon electricity to drive the process.

An early version of the material, developed by MIT's (MIT), was good at capturing CO chips, but eventually captured oxygen as well.

The air consists of 21% oxygen and 0.04% CO. Last year, Verdox discovered a material that Baynes says is 5000 times more attractive to CO resin than oxygen. "this is the most important achievement of the past two years," Baynes said.

Eric Toone, head of technology at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said much of the work that brought Verdox to this point was "very close to basic research".

Breakthrough Energy Ventures has invested in two other carbon capture startups, Sustaera Inc. And Heirloom carbon Technologies.

Although it will take years for Verdox to capture millions of tons of CO grains each year, the ultimate target cost is less than $50 per tonne. Given that carbon permits under the EU emissions trading system trade at about 80 euros ($90) a tonne this year, this would be an attractive price.

So far, Verdox has spent about $4 million on research and development, funded by government grants and smaller investors. In addition to BreakthroughEnergy Ventures, Prelude Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital also participated in the latest round of financing.