Carbon capture startup KC8 raises $10m from Woodside, Cemex
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The news: Carbon capture startup KC8 Capture Technologies has raised $10 million in a funding round backed by Woodside Energy and Cemex Ventures.
The numbers: Founded in 2021, Perth-based KC8's technology can capture up to 95% of carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industrial sources, such as cement, steel, power generation and chemical production, at a capital cost up to 50% lower than amine-based solutions and at an improved energy efficiency of up to 15%.
In Australia, KC8 is working with Cement Australia to build commercial demonstration plant to capture 15 tons per day (TPD) of CO2, located in Gladstone, Queensland. In the US, KC8 is developing a commercial pilot demonstration plant at the US Department of Energy’s National Carbon Capture Center that will achieve a capture rate of 10 to 15 TPD of CO2 from natural gas combustion flue gas.
KC8 will work with Mexico-headquartered Cemex to deploy its technology through a front-end engineering design (FEED) study at one of its leading cement plants with the aim to capture more than 100 TPD, an ambition that is 10 times greater than current project scopes.
The context: Traditionally, the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) industry uses amine-based solvents on these hard-to-abate industries. KC8 have developed a proprietary non-toxic solvent that’s derived from a naturally-occurring material. This allows KC8’s technology to treat low pressure, high volumes exhaust gases at lower cost to help these industries meet their net zero targets.
KC8 said the new funding will be used to expand its team, fast-track commercialisation, and expedite deployment of its technology into hard-to-abate industries through a number of key projects.
What they said: KC8 executive director Greg Ross said: "Being able to provide safe, naturally occurring solvents that have little or no impact to the environment at scale is an incredible feat".
"By lowering the cost of capture, our goal is to enhance and accelerate CCUS as a leading greenhouse gas mitigation tool that will form an important part of a balanced solution to lowering emissions for all sectors," he said.
Woodside's carbon solutions VP Jayne Baird said: "As a global energy company, we understand the need to innovate and develop efficient and cost-effective ways to produce safe, lower carbon, affordable and reliable energy through the energy transition".
"We want to ensure we enable the technological innovation required to do this," Baird said.
The source: KC8 media release
