CO2 to Chemicals Startup RenewCO2, Spins out of Rutgers University with Seed Round from Energy Transition Ventures
Summary
When we discovered our catalyst, I knew we had the opportunity to reverse global carbon dioxide levels at a mass scale," stated Dr. Karin Calvinho, co-founder and chief technology officer of RenewCO , also a DOE Chain Reaction Innovations Fellow at Argonne National Lab. The RenewCO catalyst technology benefits from falling costs and advancements in electrolysis and renewable power, making it both modular and easily scalable into a lower-cost solution than fossil feedstocks. Large CO streams can be converted selectively into a range of demonstrated products in a single unit, including the precursors for various plastic materials such as monoethylene glycol (MEG), methylglyoxal, and furandiol. With low-cost renewable power, combined falling costs and advancements in electrolysis, the RenewCO has the opportunity to be world-changing," said Neal Dikeman, co-founder and partner of Energy Transition Ventures. ""Climate change is one of, if not the most pressing issues of our time, and the team behind RenewCO is working to be a part of the solution," said Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak, Associate Vice President of , the academic technology transfer unit within Rutgers Office for Research that facilitated the exclusive license between the university and RenewCO2.