'The innovations of these young geniuses could help save the world.'

ENDIf you were on a life raft that was starting to take on water, what would you do? Of course, you'd plug the hole and scoop out the water! Our planet's atmosphere is our life raft, and carbon dioxide represents the water rushing in, threatening to overwhelm our planet and ability to support complex life.

The first and sensible thing to do to prevent civilization from "drowning" is to clean up the holes through which CO2 escapes into the atmosphere. That means capturing the carbon dioxide created when fossil fuels are burned, especially in power plants and industrial facilities.

'A way to capture carbon dioxide at the source' may not sound sexy, but if there's one thing that can save lives''gas than traditional capture processes. Carbon Clean claims it can cut carbon dioxide capture costs by up to half and says its modular equipment can be installed in even the tightest of industrial facilities.

With industrial sources of carbon dioxide emissions accounting for 30 percent of total emissions, Carbon Clean's technology has the potential to have a significant positive impact on efforts to restore the Earth's carbon cycle before more damage is done to our ecosystem.

In mid-2022, Carbon Clean has raised $150 million investment in its third round of funding from leading market players. The company plans to use these funds to expand its''activities and research works.

Carbon Clean was founded in 2009 by Aniruddha Sharma and Pratik Bumb, both of whom studied master's programs (Sharma in statistics, Bumb in engineering) at IIT Kharagpur, one of India's most prestigious universities.

Sharma was born and raised in Bhopal, India, site of the world's largest industrial disaster in 1984. At university, he joined the Indian Youth Climate Network and was part of the youth delegation to the Copenhagen COP15 conference in Denmark.

Bumb grew up in Jaipur, where he faced the devastating effects of climate change - rising temperatures in the summer caused groundwater levels to drop, risking serious water shortages and a humanitarian crisis.

In 2008''Bumb did an internship in Italy developing a simulation model for decarbonization of an oil refinery using existing technology. At the same time, Sharma interned in Switzerland, building a predictive statistical model of factors influencing health problems.

When they returned to IIT in the fall semester, they discussed their internships and saw an opportunity to improve the solvent that is at the heart of the carbon dioxide capture process. They presented a business plan at the IIT Global Conference, where they met a Stanford University professor who advised them to seek support in the United States. It was here in the United States that they met angel investors, venture capitalists and serial''entrepreneurs whose support led to the creation of Carbon Clean.

Sharma and Bumb gained access to abandoned labs at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, where they developed a patentable formula for their solvent in 2010. In 2011, they raised $1.08 million in a funding round led by Blume Ventures. Finding additional funds in India was difficult, but in 2012, a British government representative visiting Mumbai suggested they apply for funding in the UK. In April that year, Sharma formed a consortium of six industrial partners and three British universities, which was awarded a $6.6 million grant from the British government, resulting in Carbon Clean moving to''London.

The most widely used carbon dioxide capture process today involves feeding CO2 emissions into a tower filled with a chemical solvent called amines. The amines absorb CO2, and then the amine CO2 molecules are isolated and heated, allowing the CO2 to be released in a controlled manner so that it can then be separately compressed and transported to storage. At the same time, the depleted amine solution is returned to the tower to absorb even more carbon dioxide.

Amines are good at absorbing CO2 but are unable to release it quickly. It takes a large amount of heat to separate them, and after several cycles of polluting emissions, the amount of CO2 absorbed by the amines decreases; at the same time, the capture efficiency decreases and the amines need to''replace.

The great achievement of Carbon Clean lies in a proprietary solvent called APBS-CDRMax. This solvent combines amines amines and salt; the amines absorb CO2 with a chemical bond and the salt retains CO2 with a physical bond. The combination of these two''components allows Carbon Clean's solvent to capture more CO2 and release it at lower temperatures, saving energy.

Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, says his company's solvent reduces energy costs by about a third, which reduces the parasitic load of CO2 capture to about 20%.

Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, says his company's solvent reduces energy costs by about a third, which reduces the parasitic load of CO2 capture to about 20%.

In addition to reducing costs, Carbon Clean's solvent is more resistant to contamination, so it doesn't need to be changed as often. It is also less corrosive than pure amine solvents, and the combination of these properties results in lower overall maintenance costs for the Carbon Clean system. According to Sharma, reductions in energy and maintenance costs result in overall cost reductions of up to 50%.

The company also sells modular equipment''phones, laptops, clothes made from something other than pure cotton, hemp, linen or wool, writing on paper, watching TV, eating food, taking medicine and so on, we'd better learn how to reduce the harm from burning fossil fuels.

The most effective way to do this is to capture carbon dioxide at the source - this is the principle behind Carbon Clean's approach to capturing about 30% of global emissions from industrial sources.

In my opinion, Carbon Clean's approach to capturing carbon dioxide at the source represents an important step towards the efficient and cost-effective decarbonization of industry.

Talking to a Carbon Clean investor at a conference in New York a few weeks ago, I learned that''The company initially started selling only its solvent. The solvent was so good and effective, and so resistant to contamination, that customers didn't need to buy as much.

There was a problem with being too good - the company's revenues weren't increasing as fast as management wanted, so the company changed direction. It occurred to the management team that building and installing modular capture equipment and providing a solvent as part of its services was a good way to expand the company's revenues and profits, as well as solving a problem for small emitters who didn't consider carbon capture solutions in an affordable price niche.

The company's fully modular CDRMax solution''commercialized and is already being sold and deployed around the world, with notable customers including Tata Steel and NTPC in India, as well as Ørsted (in its FlagshipONE efuel project in Sweden).

Sharma and his team are developing another product called CycloneCC, which is currently being used by ADNOC at the Fertiglobe nitrogen fertilizer plant in the United Arab Emirates, capturing approximately 10 tons of CO2 per day.

The basis of this innovative technology is rotating packed beds that use centrifugal force to improve CO2 uptake and increase the efficiency of the carbon dioxide capture process. This development puts Carbon Clean at the leading edge of innovation in capture technology and continues''engineering excellence gained over ten years in the field.

The Carbon Clean solution has attracted a significant amount of investment. In May 2022, the company completed $150 million in a Series C funding round that included major players such as Chevron, CEMEX Ventures, Marubeni Corporation, WAVE Equity Partners, AXA IM Alts, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and TC Energy.

The company is based in London and also has offices in India, Spain and the US. Sharma is now focused on rapidly scaling its new CycloneCC technology to overcome cost and scale challenges in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Sharma says his focus on providing efficient carbon capture solutions for''reduce carbon emissions if our civilization wants a chance to maintain a livable biosphere. Intelligent investors, pay attention to this. Journalist Virginia Mugoh contributed to this report.