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Carbon Direct leads Series A investment in Clean Energy Systems

Clean Energy Systems (CES), a pioneer in oxy-combustion technology, raised USD15 million in a Series A funding round led by Carbon Direct Capital Management (Carbon Direct). 

Clean Energy Systems (CES), a pioneer in oxy-combustion technology, raised USD15 million in a Series A funding round led by Carbon Direct Capital Management (Carbon Direct). 

The funding will accelerate the first commercial-scale deployment of CES technology in the carbon negative power project in Mendota, California. Carbon Direct will join Clean Energy Systems’ board of directors.

As announced on 4 March, 2021, CES is collaborating with Schlumberger New Energy, Chevron Corporation, and Microsoft to develop a carbon negative power project in Mendota, California. The plant will convert local agricultural waste biomass into a renewable synthesis gas that will be mixed with oxygen in a combustor to generate electricity. More than 99 per cent of the carbon from the process is expected to be captured for permanent storage by injecting CO2 underground into nearby deep geological formations. The Mendota project is expected to create up to 300 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs once the facility is operating.

“Our vision is to scale our carbon removal technology to gigaton scale. In the State of California, our projects mitigate pile-burning of agricultural waste and permanently sequester carbon dioxide,” says Keith Pronske, CEO of Clean Energy Systems. “Carbon Direct is a leading scientific advisor and financial sponsor to carbon technology companies, and we are delighted to welcome Carbon Direct as an investor. We admire Carbon Direct’s commitment to high-quality carbon removal standards and its science-first approach to investing. Carbon Direct’s investment is an important endorsement of our technology. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the investment team and the senior scientists at Carbon Direct.”

Based on rocket technology, CES oxy-fuel combustion systems can be used to convert biomass waste into clean power; in the process CO2 is captured and can be permanently removed by storage in geological formations.

“Carbon removal is essential to hit our climate goals,” says Jonathan Goldberg, founder and CEO of Carbon Direct. “CES offers cutting edge carbon removal technology that produces commercially attractive, carbon negative power and can lead to wide scale CO2 removal. The technology is ready to deploy today and Carbon Direct is excited to work with CES and its partners to scale this critical technology.”

“Waste biomass conversion with permanent CO2 storage can remove CO2 from the atmosphere affordably and with environmental benefits. CES’ technology can help support the State’s aggressive goal to end open-air burning of nearly all agricultural material in the San Joaquin Valley by 2025. Moving forward, it can also help California achieve its forest restoration goals by creating valuable products from low-value forest residues,” says Julio Friedmann, senior scientist at Carbon Direct.

“The work we’re doing with Carbon Direct and our partners builds on over 25 years of technology development and demonstration, and we can replicate these and similar carbon capture projects on a global scale,” says Keith Pronske.

“This is the beginning of a new generation of energy production that will be both clean and green.”

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