We're witnessing a paradigm shift in the fight against climate change, and it's happening right where we need it most: deep in the heart of heavy industry.

THE CLIMATE CRISIS REQUIRES CARBON CAPTURE

Remember our last New/Letter about the industrial energy surge? Well, here's the plot twist: as energy demand skyrockets, so does the need for efficient carbon capture.

Global Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (“CCUS”) uptake will need to scale up 120x from what it is today––to the tune of at least 5.6 gigatons per annum by 2050 and somewhere between 350 to 1,200 gigatons in total by the end of the century, according to McKinsey and IPCC.

To be clear, scaling current carbon capture technologies without overhauling the way we produce energy would be futile: IEA cautions that if we do nothing to decarbonize our energy system and only rely on fossil fuels with carbon capture, this would require capturing 23 gigatons of CO2 per year by 2050, which would use up 25,000 TWh of electricity. That’s almost as much energy that the entire world used in 2023. It just doesn’t add up.

For heavy industry, which makes up 25% of the world’s GHG emissions and uses 33% of the world’s energy, carbon capture may be the only realistic near-term solution to hit net-zero by 2050. However, carbon capture technologies have been challenging to apply to heavy industry in a way that makes real economic sense––until now. This is because of three key issues: (1) the long useful lives of legacy industrial assets resulting in only one full investment cycle between now and 2050, (2) slim profit margins common among these industrial sectors leading to high price sensitivity, and (3) emerging technologies decarbonizing industrial production not yet mature enough to meet demand at the price point necessary to make economic sense without subsidy or carbon pricing. Ultimately, timing might not be in the world’s favor.

This means that innovations in carbon capture for heavy industry are not just required to save the world––they’re also transformative to the economy in a market ripe for disruption. We’re talking about a largely untapped $1.6 trillion market opportunity across energy, hydrogen, steel, cement, and more.

STARTUPS ARE REWRITING THE CARBON CAPTURE PLAYBOOK

Enter Mantel, a startup that's turning carbon capture into an industrial no-brainer. They've developed a molten borate-based capture technology that's not just incrementally better – it's a fundamental breakthrough that opens up a brave new world of economically viable carbon capture for industrial decarbonization.

While competing carbon capture technologies suffer from high energy penalties or rapid material degradation in order to operate in the high temperature systems of heavy industry processes (read: expensive and resource-intense), Mantel’s patented material chemistry underlying its modular capture systems unlocks near-perfect degradation rates at high temperatures with the lowest energy penalty demonstrated across emerging and existing carbon capture processes.

This makes Mantel:

• Highly cost-competitive Mantel's tech offers the lowest $/ton for carbon capture across every industry they're targeting, with a 50-75% cost advantage over traditional methods.
• Extraordinarily effective We're talking 98% capture from flue gasses, exporting 99.9% pure CO2, with no degradation to their materials over a 20-year lifetime.
• Wildly efficient Their modular system allows for over 90% recovery of high-grade heat that can be reused, dramatically lowering energy costs for customers.

It’s the leap forward required to make widespread industrial carbon capture economically viable for the first time ever and capture emissions as close to the point of the source as possible.

But don’t just take my word for it – the broader market is taking notice of Mantel's groundbreaking technology. With their recent $30 million in Series A funding, they’re well-poised to bring their low-cost, energy-efficient carbon capture solution to the heavy industrial sector.

This round was led by Shell Ventures and Eni Next, with support from BP Ventures, New Climate Ventures, MIT's Engine Ventures, MCJ, and (we're proud to say) Newlab, further cementing our commitment to advancing critical technology startups within the Newlab venture platform.

CAPTURING CARBON WITH NEWLAB x LOUISIANA x U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

We're not just cheering from the sidelines with investment – Mantel was recently onboarded as part of Newlab's collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and Greater New Orleans, Inc. to shape carbon capture commercialization projects in Louisiana. The Gulf Coast is rapidly emerging as an epicenter for carbon capture, hydrogen, and the broader energy transition. From the $550M Project Cyrus to FUEL initiative, the programs in the Gulf Coast have an urgent focus on real-world implementation and scale.

Make no mistake: the road to widespread industrial carbon capture is paved with challenges. We're talking about integrating new technologies into decades-old industrial processes, navigating complex regulatory landscapes, and scaling up at a pace that matches the urgency of climate change.

But here's the thing: these challenges are precisely what makes this space so exciting for startups. The companies that can crack the code on efficient, cost-effective carbon capture won't just be successful – they'll be redefining entire industries.

The carbon capture revolution is here, and it's happening in the unlikeliest of places – the smokestacks of industry.

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