Linhe Climate Technology (also called Carbon Loop/co2loop), a comprehensive CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) solution provider, has recently completed a multimillion-rmb pre-series A funding round. The investment comes from CITIC Capital and New Materials Intelligence Capital. The raised capital will be directed towards intensifying key product development iterations, demonstrating industrialization projects, and accelerating team expansion and market outreach.
Founded in 2021, Linhe Climate Technology (Carbon Loop) focuses on distributed CO2 capture and utilization as its core solution, aiming to promote replicable and standardized CCUS usage scenarios.
According to Linhe Climate Technology 's CEO, Zhou Fu, a significant mismatch between carbon capture and utilization currently exists, hindering the widespread implementation of CCUS. The challenge stems from the inability to seamlessly integrate capture and utilization scenarios.
On the capture side, traditional centralized capture methods only cover large centralized emission sources, requiring substantial space and high initial investment. Typically, major emission sources are distant from utilization sites, incurring higher transportation costs. Traditional carbon capture technologies often produce high-concentration CO2, which is challenging to align with the varied concentration demands of downstream utilization scenarios, leading to supply-demand discrepancies and resource waste.
Regarding utilization, existing practices predominantly involve carbon dioxide burial and storage, often lacking additional economic benefits. In cases of limited utilization scenarios or insufficient market capacity, it becomes difficult to employ substantial amounts of CO2.
To address these issues, Linhe Climate Technology integrates distributed carbon capture with multi-path comprehensive carbon utilization, proposing the concept of "U determines C." This involves deducing reasonable carbon capture engineering paths and business models based on downstream utilization requirements, achieving on-site capture and utilization, thereby turning CO2 waste into valuable resources.
Linhe Climate Technology has developed two primary distributed carbon capture technologies: wet and dry Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology based on MSCCM materials, and modular flue gas capture technology.
Direct Air Capture is challenging. The company employs proprietary nanomaterials to create Asia's first industrial-scale DAC system, utilizing the unique humidity-variable carbon capture material MSCCM. This material allows for adsorption and desorption by adjusting humidity, facilitating the capture of CO2 at varying concentrations, maximizing natural air attributes for capture.
Traditional DAC techniques often neglect air characteristics, essentially extending conventional flue gas capture methods. Linhe Climate Technology's wet and dry carbon capture technology leverages natural air circulation and diffusion properties, enabling distributed, full-frequency, low-cost, and on-demand capture, surpassing thermodynamic limitations of traditional routes and lowering DAC costs.
Distributed flue gas capture is a versatile capture technology in domestic scenarios. The company's compact modular flue gas adsorption system is easily installed and transported, catering to space-constrained small emission sources, fitting applications in onshore oil fields, offshore platforms, and vessels. Compared to traditional capture, The company's distributed modular flue gas capture boasts absorption efficiencies of 85%-95%, volume reductions of 30%-90%, and 10% lower operational costs and energy consumption. The system's efficacy has been validated through client partnerships.
In the realm of carbon utilization, the company primarily targets solid waste disposal, enhanced oil recovery, and carbon-rich agriculture.
For solid waste disposal, the company transforms diverse waste and on-demand captured CO2 into carbon-reduced alkaline solid waste resources, subsequently mineralizing waste through gas-solid reactions. The resulting products include carbon-aggregated aggregates, carbon-endowed construction materials, and carbon-aggregated concrete slurry, forming a "carbon-neutral" solution for the construction industry, complemented by exclusive mineralization anticorrosion technology.
In the carbon-rich agriculture scene, Linhe Climate Technology achieves a closed loop between DAC and carbon-rich agriculture, employing captured CO2 in greenhouse environments to enhance crop photosynthesis rates, promoting increased yield and cost-effectiveness. The company has collaborated with Beijing Shunyi Agricultural Science Institute and TIANHE Solar Energy, achieving up to a 25% increase in photosynthesis rates and 30%-40% crop yield growth for tomatoes and melons.
Zhou Fu highlights CCUS and DAC as engineered carbon sequestration/sump technologies, potentially integrating market mechanisms like carbon pricing and trading, allowing DAC systems and other negative carbon products to continually generate economic benefits through carbon trading, fostering diverse commercial profitability models.
In terms of team, Linhe Climate Technology's co-founder and chief scientist Chen Xi is a renowned expert in energy materials mechanics, serving as director of Shaanxi Energy Chemical Research Institute, a Columbia University professor, and a distinguished lecture professor at Changjiang Scholars Program. The management team includes members from Harvard University, the University of British Columbia, Nankai University, Shandong University, and various interdisciplinary fields.
CITIC Capital, the lead investor, views Linhe Climate Technology as a pioneer in carbon neutrality and green new materials, boasting a globally leading distributed CO2 capture and utilization technology, original humidity-variable carbon capture material (MSCCM), and well-defined application scenarios and solutions.
The investment aligns with CITIC Capital's philosophy of "serving the real economy, supporting original innovation" and their investment strategy of "engaging laboratories, embracing scientists." CITIC Capital will actively provide post-investment support, aiding the company's rapid development through regular visits, resource integration, and capital market services.
Original press release in Chinese here.
