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September 11, 2024

New Haven company developing carbon-capture technology closes on $4.5M investment

Contributed New Haven-based Oxylus Energy is developing a system that converts carbon dioxide into alternative fuel.
By Andrew Larson

A New Haven company developing a system that converts carbon dioxide into liquid fuel has closed on a $4.5 million investment led by Toyota Ventures, the automaker’s early-stage venture capital firm, and Azolla Ventures, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based climate change investor.

The company, Oxylus Energy, is commercializing a carbon-capture process developed by a Yale University professor that creates methanol from three ingredients: carbon dioxide, water and electricity.

Earth Foundry, a venture capital fund, and Connecticut Innovations, the state’s venture capital arm, are also participating in the investment round.

The funding, according to the company, will go toward Oxylus' development of reactors, similar to hydrogen electrolyzers, which catalyze the carbon-to-fuel conversion, along with prototype testing and pilot deployment.

The methanol produced can be used as renewable gasoline or upgraded to jet fuel.

The catalyst, developed by Yale University by Professor Hailiang Wang, is the first process that converts carbon dioxide to methanol at low temperatures and low pressures, reducing the cost of fuel production, the company said.

"Without decreasing the price of methanol it will be difficult to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors of aviation, shipping and petrochemicals that are currently responsible for 11% of global emissions," said Conor Rooney, co-founder and chief technology officer of Oxylus.

According to information cited by the company from the International Renewable Energy Agency, green methanol production currently totals less than 0.2 million tons annually, but it is likely to increase to 500 million tons by 2050. 

"This is why Oxylus' technology is critical – it can meet the growing market demand for methanol in the net-zero transition at a price that actually works for industry," said Perry Bakas, co-founder and CEO of Oxylus.

The process could help decarbonize the shipping, maritime and aviation sectors, the company said.

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