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First CO₂ volumes injected at Northern Lights
UK publishes Net Zero Technology Outlook report
UH Researchers Reveal Membraneless Carbon Capture Breakthrough
Electrosynthesis of ethylene glycol with integrated CO2 capture
Pembina Report: Canada’s oil and gas jobs outlook
Formate carbon carrier boosts oil recovery and storage
Explainer: Carbon Uptake in Cement-Based Products
Temasek Trust leads Equatic US$11.6M Series A
Canada invests in carbon capture and storage in Ottawa
PeroCycle opens £4M seed round, appoints new CEO
Natural Gas Dominates Hydrogen Production in US Projections
First CO₂ volumes injected at Northern Lights
Equinor and the Northern Lights Joint Venture have injected and successfully stored the first CO₂ volumes in the Aurora reservoir beneath the North Sea, completing phase 1 of the Northern Lights development.
The first CO₂ volumes have been injected and successfully stored in the Aurora reservoir 2.600 meters under the seabed; phase 1 has a total capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year (mtpa) and this capacity is fully booked. CO2 is shipped from Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Brevik, offloaded at the Øygarden facility, transported via a 100-kilometer pipeline and injected offshore.
Background and next steps: The Northern Lights JV is equally owned by Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, with Equinor as Technical Service Provider (TSP) responsible for construction and operations. In March a final investment decision was made for phase 2, which will increase capacity to a minimum of 5 million tonnes CO2 per year, enabled by an agreement to transport and store up to 900,000 tonnes CO2 annually from Stockholm Exergi and a grant from the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF Energy). Phase 2 work includes additional onshore storage tanks, a new jetty and additional injection wells; nine new CO2 storage tanks were delivered at the Øygarden site this summer. Equinor states an ambition of 30-50 million tonnes per annum by 2035.
UK publishes Net Zero Technology Outlook report
(August 21)
The UK Government Office for Science has released the Net Zero Technology Outlook report.
The report sets out a best estimate of the technology mix needed in key emitting sectors to reach net zero by 2050, covering 18 sub-sectors within 5 major sectors (industry; transport; heat and buildings; agriculture, land use and waste; power) and identifies the R&D needed to achieve that mix.
The analysis drew on >20 interviews and a peer review with ~45 experts, includes input from relevant government departments, synthesises established scenario modelling, policy documents and industry sources, and sets R&D challenges for 3 cross-cutting strands: greenhouse gas removals and carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and biomass.
UH Researchers Reveal Membraneless Carbon Capture Breakthrough
(August 21)
The University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering announced two research breakthroughs in electrochemical carbon capture led by Professor Mim Rahimi.
Main announcement: Published work introduces a membraneless electrochemically mediated amine regeneration (EMAR) using engineered gas diffusion electrodes, achieving >90% CO₂ removal and an estimated capture cost of approximately $70 per metric ton of CO₂, reported as competitive with state-of-the-art amine scrubbing (published in Nature Communications; lead student author Ahmad Hassan).
Additional details: A second paper (cover feature in ES&T Engineering) describes a vanadium redox flow battery architecture that absorbs CO₂ during charging and releases it on discharge, demonstrating strong cycle stability and high capture capacity; lead student author Mohsen Afshari highlights potential for energy storage + grid balancing when paired with intermittent renewables.
Electrosynthesis of ethylene glycol with integrated CO2 capture
(August 18)
The authors (Northwestern University and collaborators, supported by Braskem) report an electrified process that oxidizes ethylene to ethylene glycol (EG) while integrating electrochemical CO2 capture to greatly reduce lifecycle carbon intensity.
Main result: The integrated electrolytic system achieves 94% Faradaic efficiency for ethylene-to-EG conversion, 91% CO2 capture efficiency from a 10% CO2 stream, and sequesters 0.60 tonnes CO2 per tonne EG, yielding an estimated carbon intensity of 0.133 tCO2-eq/tonne EG versus the global average 1.2 tCO2-eq/tonne EG.
Background and implementation details: The work identifies hydroxide counter-migration and an increased pH at the membrane–anode interface as challenges, introduces cathodic electrochemical carbon capture and RuSnOx catalysts favoring Cl over OH adsorption, is supported by Braskem, used NUANCE (EPIC, Keck-II, SPID) and Canadian Light Source facilities, and is associated with two US provisional patent applications (no. 63/607,143 and another titled ‘System for producing mono-EG and carbon dioxide and method for producing same’).
Report: Canada’s oil and gas jobs outlook
(August 14)
The Pembina Institute published a report on Canada’s oil and gas employment outlook.
Confirmed findings: The report finds employment peaked in 2012 at 38 jobs per thousand barrels/day and fell to 22 jobs per thousand barrels/day by 2023 (a 43% decrease) even while oil and gas production grew 47% over the same period; it concludes employment never recovered after the 2014 global oil price crash and that decarbonization roles (e.g., methane abatement, carbon capture and storage) overlap with existing oil and gas skills but require regulatory incentives to materialize.
Recommendations / planned actions: The Pembina Institute calls on governments to regulate oil and gas emissions rapidly to incentivize investment in emissions-reducing projects, and to align workforce development with growing low-carbon industries (modeling cited: tens of thousands of clean economy jobs in Alberta by 2030, reaching hundreds of thousands by 2050); these are policy recommendations (planned initiatives) rather than confirmed government commitments.
Formate carbon carrier boosts oil recovery and storage
(August 14)
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin proposed and modeled an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method using formate-based alternative carbon carriers (synthesized from captured CO2).
Main announcement: The UT Austin study (Jackson School of Geosciences and Cockrell School of Engineering) reports that alternating slugs of CO2 with a water-based formate solution (e.g., sodium or potassium formate) increased oil recovery by 19.5% vs CO2-only injection and 1.9% vs CO2+water injection, and increased carbon storage by 2.5% vs CO2-only and 17.9% vs CO2+water in simulations based on Permian Basin reservoir data; results published in Energy & Fuels.
Background and details: The method reduces free-flowing CO2 (improving storage security) and creates a chemically buffered reservoir environment; research funded by the STARR program and the Energi Simulation Industrial Affiliate Program; authors include Abouzar Mirzaei-Paiaman and Ryosuke Okuno; practical deployment requires scaling formate production from CO2 and aligned policy/regulatory incentives.
Explainer: Carbon Uptake in Cement-Based Products
(August 13)
CSHubMIT has released an explainer video and supporting resources on carbon uptake in cement-based products.
Released materials: explainer video (YouTube link, duration shown 1:57), a Whole Life Cycle Carbon Uptake Tool (https://cshub.mit.edu/whole-life-cycle-carbon-uptake-tool/), and an interim report titled “Accounting for Carbon Uptake in the EPDs of Cement-based Products.” Credit given to Alessandra Garbini and Esther Song for leadership in developing the video. Confirmed action: publication of video, tool, and interim report.
Technical details & guidance: Identifies factors that determine CO₂ sequestration — product type, surface-area-to-volume ratio, and exposure to the elements — and states that design strategies can be used to amplify carbon uptake (this is presented as recommended/planned design approach, not a committed project timeline).
MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub
Particle size affects carbon uptake in crushed concrete
(August 13)
The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) published a research brief led by Drs. Pranav Pradeep Kumar and Hessam AzariJafari on how grading size and paste content affect end-of-life CO2 uptake in crushed concrete.
Key findings: Fine particles of crushed concrete exhibit approximately 270% higher paste content and 36% higher degree of carbonation than coarser particles, measured on the study’s representative crushed concrete samples (confirmed results reported in the brief).
Model comparison and implication: The CSHub model estimates 33% higher CO2 uptake than existing models applied to the same representative sample, highlighting the need to incorporate grading-size-specific variability and more accurate paste content measurements into end-of-life (EOL) carbon uptake assessments (confirmed model comparison from the brief).
MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub
Temasek Trust leads Equatic US$11.6M Series A
(August 12)
Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (C3H), a vehicle of Temasek Trust, led the first close of Equatic’s US$11.6 million Series A financing to scale its seawater electrolysis technology.
Main announcement: C3H led a US$11.6 million Series A (first close, exceeding a US$10 million target) co-led by Kibo Invest; proceeds will fund engineering scale-up and commercialisation including Equatic’s first 100-kilotonne CDR commercial facility, manufacturing, and technology development.
Background and details: Equatic (formerly SeaChange) piloted its seawater electrolysis process in Los Angeles and Singapore, won The Liveability Challenge in 2021 (S$1 million catalytic funding), and has ISO-14064 MRV validated by registries Isometric and Puro.earth; other Series A participants include Stacey Nicholas, Aga Khan Foundation, Adam McKay, Lee Cooper, and support from Grantham Neglected Climate Opportunities.
Canada invests in carbon capture and storage in Ottawa
(August 08)
The Government of Canada (Natural Resources Canada) announced an investment of $2.5 million from the Energy Innovation Program (EIP) to support Ottawa-based TerraFixing in developing made-in-Canada carbon management technology.
Confirmed actions: The EIP has provided $2.5 million to TerraFixing Inc. under the EIP’s CCUS RD&D call; the project will scale up CO2 capture beds using structured zeolite packing, with a design target to fit a 1,000-tonnes-per-year capture unit into a shipping container and achieve costs below $100 per tonne of CO2 at large scale. The release also confirms TerraFixing has built a lab, doubled its team, and is moving IP toward a pilot production line in an Ottawa warehouse.
Planned initiatives & program context: The investment is funded through the EIP (part of a broader $319 million Budget 2021 RD&D commitment over seven years for CCUS) and sits alongside Budget 2024 measures including $93 billion in investment tax credit incentives by 2034–35, which include a CCUS Investment Tax Credit. These are described as government policy and funding commitments rather than project completion guarantees.
PeroCycle opens £4M seed round, appoints new CEO
(August 05)
PeroCycle has appointed Grant Budge as CEO and opened a £4M seed round to fund pilot deployment of its carbon recycling technology.
£4M seed round to support development of PeroCycle’s first pilot unit (target capacity 1 kilotonne CO₂ processed per year) and to expand the company’s technical and commercial team; Grant Budge, with ~30 years’ experience in carbon capture and CCS delivery, has been appointed CEO.
Spin-out and investors: PeroCycle is commercialising research by Professor Yulong Ding and Dr Harriet Kildahl, spun out from the University of Birmingham with involvement from Cambridge Future Tech (CFT); Anglo American is an investor and has publicly committed to supporting further development toward industrial application.
Natural Gas Dominates Hydrogen Production in US Projections
(August 04)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced projections from the Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025) highlighting hydrogen market growth and production sources.
Hydrogen production is projected to increase by about 80% by 2050 compared to 2024, with natural gas via steam methane reforming (SMR) supplying over 80% of market hydrogen. SMR with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) peaks in the 2030s but declines by 2050 due to expiring tax credits after 2045. Electrolysis contributes negligibly despite tax incentives.
Scenario analyses show that higher natural gas prices reduce hydrogen production, while high economic growth increases it. The Alternative Transportation case, removing key policies, results in minimal hydrogen market growth. The transportation sector is a major driver of hydrogen demand under current policies.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
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