Cella Mineral Storage – the carbon mineralization company providing durable CO2 storage technology is one step closer towards developing its approach. The NY-based startup announced it has successfully closed a seed funding round of $3.3 million to grow its CO2 storage innovation.
The round was led by London-based climate tech investor Counteract and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. The funding will be used to demonstrate the proprietary injection and verification technology of Cella Mineral Storage through a pilot injection in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
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It will also enable Cella to grow its science, operations, and commercial teams as it seeks to commercialize the technology across different use cases, including direct air capture to generate high-quality carbon credits, energy production, and industrial production.
Cella is developing a carbon storage technology that happens naturally in nature – CO2 gas injected into certain types of rocks underground gets transformed into a solid form in just a few years. The approach is safe and durable as carbon mineralization locks in CO2 permanently so there is less danger of leakages compared to storing CO2 underground in a gaseous form.
It also holds the potential to unlock billions of tons of CO2 storage worldwide. Cella is soon commencing its pilot project in Kenya and has already sold advanced purchases from it to Frontier. The pilot will produce the first-ever technology-based carbon credits on the continent.
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Kenya was selected as a location due to its vast availability of renewable energy. The country is the eighth-largest producer of geothermal energy in the world which constitutes almost 40% of its grid power. There’s a massive amount of heat relatively close to Kenya’s Earth surface.
According to the company, as energy demand in the country is inconsistent, the grid currently produces a surplus of clean power that could potentially run 20 large carbon removal facilities without any impact on the country’s energy needs.
The other reason Kenya is an ideal location for CO2 storage is that the volcanic rock basalt, widely available there, allows a chemical reaction that binds the CO2 to calcium and magnesium and thus stores it.
“We believe that carbon mineralization holds tremendous potential in the fight against climate change as the most durable, verifiable, and safest way to remove CO2. We’re committed to realizing that potential through combining our ambition to create a technology with planetary-level impact together with the highest standards of technical rigor, and we’ve assembled some of the world’s leading scientists working in this space to do just that. We’re thrilled to be supported by partners who share this vision, whose support will enable us to accelerate the development of our technology and bring it to market at scale,” commented Corey Pattison, CEO of Cella Mineral Storage on the funding round.
“We only invest in technologies that can remove CO2 at scale. Cella has developed a technology with the potential to lock gigatons of carbon underground safely and permanently. Their approach makes use of waste resources promoting a circular economy, and engages local communities which reinforces their long-term commitment to solving issues surrounding the climate crisis. We are delighted to partner with the Cella team,” said Caitlin Wale, Principal at Counteract.
