In a successful seed funding round, Connecticut-based carbon utilization company Oxylus Energy secured a $4.5 million investment for its innovative e-fuels technology.
The funding round, led by Toyota Ventures and Azolla Ventures, also saw participation from Earth Foundry and Connecticut Innovations.
Oxylus Energy, founded by Harrison Meyer, Conor Rooney, and Perry Bakas, graduate students at Yale University, managed to develop a groundbreaking low-cost, energy-efficient method for creating green methanol, which can be used as a liquid fuel.
Their technology puts captured carbon through a pioneering low-temperature, low-pressure conversion process that produces a liquid e-fuel product that is compatible to replace conventional fuels, or it can be refined for use as aviation fuel or petrochemical feedstock.
Utilizing reactors that are similar to electrolyzers used for green hydrogen, this production process only needs captured CO2, water, and electricity to generate green methanol.
The development of this groundbreaking system was enabled by the commercialization of the first-ever catalyst for direct electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, created by Professor Hailiang Wang at Yale University.
Creating an alternative pathway for fuel production, Oxylus Energy’s approach cuts down the costs and the high energy demand related to conventional fuel protection methods.
In the bigger picture, the green methanol e-fuel holds great promise for decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors like aviation, shipping, and petrochemicals.
Relevant: CapCO2 Solutions Is Paving The Future Of Green Methanol
While alternative fuels could prove pivotal for the green transition of fossil fuel-dependent industries, their widespread adoption would be dictated by affordable pricing and the capacity for large-scale production.
Oxylus Energy meets these two criteria, as their solution is designed to function in modular conditions and can be easily stacked to increase production while simultaneously offering a production process and an end product at an attractive price.
The company shared that it will use the recent substantial funding to accelerate the advancement of its technology and operations, with a focus on testing prototypes and pilot rollout.
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