Breaking Barriers: How Carbon Capture-as-a-Service is Democratizing Climate Solutions for Every Industry

As federal climate targets tighten and 45Q tax credit deadlines loom, a new model from CarbonQuest and Daroga Power is turning heads in the carbon capture space.

The companies have recently announced North America's first carbon capture-as-a-service financing project, marking a revolutionary shift from traditional capital-intensive investments to accessible, service-based solutions. This groundbreaking approach promises to unlock carbon capture technology for countless industries that previously found the upfront costs prohibitive.

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The Game-Changing Partnership Reshaping Carbon Capture

The collaboration between CarbonQuest and Daroga Power represents more than just another business deal; it's a fundamental reimagining of how carbon capture technology reaches the market. CarbonQuest's Building Carbon Capture™ technology cost-effectively captures up to 95% of CO2 emissions generated from boiler operations, while Daroga Power brings proven expertise in financing and deploying distributed energy infrastructure.

Their inaugural project at a beverage industry plant in Washington state demonstrates the practical application of this model. Under this arrangement, the facility receives a complete distributed carbon capture system with zero upfront investment, transforming what was once a significant capital barrier into a manageable operational expense. Shane Johnson, CEO of CarbonQuest, explained the motivation behind this approach: "Customers in many sectors are under pressure to reduce emissions yet are concerned about paying for hardware-intensive projects with capital budgets."

The partnership builds on their successful 2023 collaboration, which initially focused on combining fuel cell technology with carbon capture systems. Ory Moussaieff, Co-Founder of Daroga Power, highlighted the natural evolution: "Daroga Power has developed and financed numerous distributed power projects globally, and carbon capture-as-a-service is a natural extension of our existing capabilities."

How Carbon Capture-as-a-Service Transforms Business Operations

Eliminating Financial Barriers

The traditional carbon capture model required substantial upfront investments that often exceeded millions of dollars, effectively excluding smaller and medium-sized enterprises from participating in emission reduction efforts. This transformative approach reimagines technology deployment through a flexible, service-based model that unbundles the value chain and enables specialized providers to offer comprehensive solutions.

Under the service model, Daroga Power handles all aspects of project development, including financing, design, installation, and ongoing operational maintenance. This comprehensive approach ensures that clients can focus on their core business operations while achieving their sustainability goals through guaranteed emission reductions.

Guaranteed Performance and Transparency

One of the most compelling aspects of this service model is its emphasis on accountability and transparency. The Washington state project includes a multi-year agreement that guarantees a minimum amount of captured CO2 annually, providing businesses with predictable environmental outcomes. CarbonQuest's Carbon Management Software tracks real-time data on CO2 captured, liquified, and sold, offering unprecedented visibility into environmental performance.

This level of transparency addresses a critical gap in traditional carbon reduction initiatives, where businesses often struggled to measure and verify their actual impact. The service model transforms carbon capture from a theoretical investment into a measurable, guaranteed outcome.

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Creating New Revenue Streams Through Circular Carbon Economy

Sustainable CO2™ as a Valuable Commodity

Beyond emission reduction, the service model creates innovative revenue opportunities through CO2 utilization. The captured CO2 is liquified and transported to local businesses that need carbon for their production processes, including cement manufacturers, beverage companies, and other industrial users.

For beverage industry clients specifically, this creates a compelling value proposition: access to lower cost, resilient, and sustainable CO2 that ensures reliable supply for operations while meeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. CarbonQuest aims to achieve the lowest cost per ton in the carbon capture industry while improving system efficiency, making their Sustainable CO2™ economically competitive with traditional sources.

Supporting Local Carbon Economies

The distributed nature of CarbonQuest's technology enables the development of regional carbon economies, where captured CO2 becomes a local resource rather than a waste product. This approach reduces transportation costs and environmental impact while creating economic opportunities within communities.

The partnership plans to expand this model across various sectors, including commercial and industrial facilities, utility infrastructure, and food and beverage operations. This diversification strategy ensures that the benefits of carbon capture technology reach multiple industries simultaneously.

Technological Innovation Driving Market Adoption

Modular Systems for Space-Constrained Applications

CarbonQuest's distributed carbon capture system (DCCS) technology allows CO2 capture in space-constrained settings, suitable for most industrial facilities, utility infrastructure, and campus settings with onsite power generation. This flexibility addresses a common challenge in carbon capture deployment, where traditional systems required extensive infrastructure modifications.

The technology pairs with buildings and smaller natural gas operations such as gas boilers, fuel cells and industrial activities, using a filter that can pull out approximately 90% of the carbon dioxide from emission sources. This high efficiency rate, combined with minimal operational disruption, makes the technology attractive across diverse applications.

Proven Investment Potential

The financial viability of this model has attracted significant investor attention. CarbonQuest recently raised $20 million in funding led by Riverbend Energy Group, with additional investments from Energy Capital Ventures and Aligned Climate Capital. This funding round, completed in early 2025, demonstrates strong confidence in the distributed carbon capture market and the service-based delivery model.

Daroga Power brings substantial experience to the partnership, having previously managed significant infrastructure investments. The company successfully closed a $230 million infrastructure fund for deploying distributed energy systems, showcasing their capability to structure and finance complex technology deployments.

Market Expansion and Future Opportunities

Building a Robust Project Pipeline

The success of the Washington state project has catalyzed expansion plans across multiple sectors. The partners are developing what they describe as a robust pipeline of similarly financed projects, indicating strong market demand for accessible carbon capture solutions. This pipeline approach enables economies of scale while reducing project development costs and risks.

The carbon capture offering is designed to provide building owners a capital-efficient, flexible, and easy-to-implement solution to reduce CO2 emissions, with the added benefit of increasing building income through long-term space rental agreements. This dual value proposition of environmental benefits and financial returns creates compelling business cases across various property types.

Addressing Diverse Industry Needs

The service model's flexibility enables customization for different industry requirements. Beverage companies benefit from secure CO2 supply chains, while commercial buildings can achieve sustainability certifications without major capital investments. Industrial facilities gain access to advanced emission control technology that would otherwise require extensive procurement and implementation processes.

This versatility positions carbon capture-as-a-service as a scalable solution that can adapt to varying regulatory requirements, operational constraints, and financial structures across different markets and regions.

Catalyzing Industry-Wide Transformation

The emergence of carbon capture-as-a-service represents more than an innovative financing mechanism; it signals a fundamental shift toward democratizing advanced climate technologies. By removing capital barriers and providing guaranteed outcomes, this model enables widespread participation in emission reduction efforts that were previously limited to large corporations with substantial resources.

As regulatory pressure intensifies and stakeholders increasingly demand measurable climate action, service-based models provide practical pathways for businesses to achieve meaningful environmental impact. The success of early projects like the CarbonQuest-Daroga partnership will likely inspire similar initiatives across the carbon management sector, accelerating the deployment of climate solutions at unprecedented scale.

The combination of proven technology, innovative financing, and comprehensive service delivery creates a replicable framework that can transform how industries approach carbon management. This evolution from product sales to service delivery represents a maturation of the carbon capture market, making advanced climate solutions accessible to the businesses that need them most.