Equatic Advances Toward Gigaton-Scale Carbon Removal with New Leadership Appointments

The company names a CEO and CPO, expands its Industry Advisory Board, and creates a new Science Advisory Board as it gains momentum and prepares to launch the world’s largest ocean-based carbon removal plants

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the carbon removal company Equatic announced the appointment of new leadership, laying the foundation for continued growth and momentum. Equatic welcomes a new Chief Executive Officer, Chief Project Officer, a new addition to its Industry Advisory Board, and the formation of its inaugural Science Advisory Board. The appointments represent a new chapter of growth for Equatic, as it prepares to launch the world’s largest ocean-based carbon removal plant and tracks toward carbon removal for less than $30 per tonne by the end of the decade.

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New Leadership Team

Equatic welcomes the following industry and academic experts to its leadership team:

• Edward Sanders is named as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to drive further growth and expansion, following his experience steering the company’s operations as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Sanders has a deep background in climate, aviation, and consulting with experience launching and scaling up commercial and network operations across the Asia-Pacific region for one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines.

• Jarred W. Guthrie is named as Chief Project Officer to develop and execute the company’s overall project development strategy, shaping Equatic’s growth trajectory, expanding its project portfolio, and achieving its ambitious goals. Guthrie has more than a decade of experience in leadership roles in the hydrogen industry, previously spearheading renewable energy projects for Shell globally.

• Dame Dervilla Mitchell joins the company’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) and brings a long-standing reputation as a champion of sustainable engineering practices. She is a civil engineer with international major project experience and was recently Deputy Chair of Arup Group.

Industry Advisory Board Expansion

With the addition of Dame Dervilla Mitchell, Equatic's IAB now consists of eight industry leaders:

• Lord John Browne (Chair), Chairman of BeyondNetZero and Managing Director at General Atlantic, former Group CEO of British Petroleum

• Edward Muller, former CEO of Genon, Mirant and Edison Mission Energy, former Vice Chairman of NRG

• Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Climate and Nature Solutions

• Peter Relan, Co-founder of YouWeb Incubator

• Caitlyn Fox, former Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

• Jérôme Schmitt, former Senior Vice President M&A at TotalEnergies and the founder of OGCI

• Craig Cogut, Chairman and CEO of Pegasus Capital Advisors, and a co-founder and an original partner at Apollo Advisors L.P.

Science Advisory Board Formation

Equatic’s first-ever Science Advisory Board (SAB) will support and advise Equatic’s Management Team, Board of Directors, and IAB in its mission to provide high-quality carbon dioxide removal solutions. “The SAB was formed to help amplify Equatic’s dedication to meaningful and responsible advancements in carbon dioxide removal and clean energy production,” says Emily Carter, Chair of the SAB. The SAB consists of eight members across academia and the public sector:

• Emily Carter (Chair), Senior Strategic Advisor and Associate Lab Director at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

• JR DeShazo, Dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin

• Menachem Elimelech, Nancy and Clint Carlson Professor at Rice University

• Lynn Brickett, President, L.A.B. Decarb and former Director, Point Source Carbon Capture in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

• Justin Ries, Professor of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University

• Mark Barteau, Halliburton Chair in Engineering Professor at Texas A&M University

• Niall Mac Dowell, Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at Imperial College London

• Holly Buck, Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo

Recent Achievements

Since Equatic’s commercial launch in 2023, the team has operated two successful pilots in Los Angeles and Singapore and is now expanding deployment with a demonstration plant in Singapore called Equatic-1 and a commercial-scale plant in Quebec. In May 2024, Equatic was named a CDR Purchase Prize semifinalist by the U.S. Department of Energy, in recognition of its high-quality, permanent carbon credits and rigorous MRV practices. In September 2024, Equatic announced the U.S. manufacture of oxygen-selective anodes, a climate breakthrough that unlocks scalable hydrogen production using direct seawater electrolysis. That same month, Equatic was named a finalist for The Earthshot Prize, a prestigious international recognition designed to discover, spotlight, and scale groundbreaking solutions to repair and regenerate our planet.

About Equatic

Equatic is a carbon removal company leading the industry in combined carbon dioxide removal and green hydrogen production. Using a patented seawater electrolysis and direct air capture process, Equatic activates and amplifies the ocean’s inherent ability to absorb and store massive amounts of carbon. The technology was created and developed at UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management. Equatic works with industry pioneers, national agencies, and government leadership to scale climate solutions at unprecedented rates. The company sells high-integrity carbon removal credits and is the only carbon removal company with ocean storage that measures carbon drawdown with unprecedented certainty.