Equatic Unveils Oxygen-Selective Anodes, Unlocking Gigaton-Scale Carbon Removal and Green Hydrogen Generation With Seawater Electrolysis

With funding from ARPA-E, the U.S.-manufactured OSAs will make combined carbon removal and clean hydrogen production more scalable, sustainable, and economical than ever before

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Carbon removal company, Equatic, today announces the U.S. manufacturing of oxygen-selective anodes (OSAs), a climate breakthrough that unlocks scalable hydrogen production using seawater electrolysis. Equatic co-founder and lead scientist, Dr. Xin Chen, developed OSAs at UCLA with funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The first manufacturing facility for new and refurbished anodes will be in San Diego, Calif.

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“Traditional electrolysis has only been possible with pure water, an increasingly scarce global resource. Equatic’s OSAs eliminate the process’s dependence on pure water, and it taps into the world’s most abundant water resource instead: the ocean,” said Dr. Doug Wicks, a program director at ARPA-E. This discovery not only improves efficiency but also helps drive domestic job creation. “Just as important, this U.S. discovery will be manufactured by a team of highly skilled technicians in San Diego, fueling our domestic clean economy and creating ripple effects that will be felt worldwide.”

In 2021, Dr. Chen set out to create an ocean-based electrolysis carbon removal and hydrogen-production process that does not produce chlorine gas. Chlorine gas poses significant environmental and health risks, making it difficult to scale seawater electrolysis. In June 2022, Dr. Chen’s team at UCLA received an ARPA-E grant worth $3 million in funding over three years. During the first phase of research, the team developed electrodes with finely architectured catalysts that do not react with the salt in seawater. This innovation prevents the release of harmful chlorine while generating clean hydrogen. After three years, the anodes simply need a new coat of catalysts made from affordable, earth-abundant elements, making them highly recyclable.

“This breakthrough is the crux of Equatic’s ability to scale to gigaton volumes and has global implications,” emphasized Edward Sanders, chief operating officer at Equatic. By overcoming the high costs and environmental challenges, Equatic’s technology is set to play a crucial role in meeting the planet’s climate goals. “With OSAs in production, Equatic is ready to help coastal regions around the world play a critical role in the clean energy transition.”

Equatic’s process combines electrolysis with direct air capture to provide two valuable products, creating a dual-revenue stream. The clean hydrogen produced will subsidize the cost of carbon removal, making it affordable and scalable. Equatic is on track to bring the cost of carbon removal down to less than $100 per tonne before 2030.

The OSAs will be manufactured at a San Diego electroplating facility. With plans to produce 4,000 units annually, the facility is expected to reach full capacity by the end of 2024. Already staffed with a highly specialized team, the facility will expand operations to create more jobs and training opportunities throughout Southern California.

Equatic will incorporate OSAs into Equatic-1, its upcoming demonstration-scale plant in Singapore and the first commercial-scale plant in Quebec. These plants will remove 109,500 tonnes of CO2 and generate 3,600 tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2026. Ongoing research by Dr. Chen’s team will continue to enhance the performance of OSAs, driving down costs and ensuring a sustainable, domestic supply chain for manufacturing.

About Equatic

Equatic is a carbon removal company leading the industry in combined carbon dioxide removal and green hydrogen generation. Using a patented seawater electrolysis process, Equatic activates and amplifies the ocean’s natural ability to absorb and store massive amounts of carbon. Developed at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering’s Institute for Carbon Management, Equatic works with pioneers in industry and government to scale climate solutions at unprecedented rates. The company sells high-integrity carbon removal credits and is the only ocean-based carbon removal company that measures removal with unprecedented certainty.