Vycarb Reaches Milestone in Storing Low-Purity CO2 as Seawater Bicarbonate

Vycarb, a Brooklyn-based carbon capture and storage company, has reached a new milestone in ocean-based CCS, successfully storing low-purity CO2 directly in seawater without the costly purification step that typically drives up the price of carbon capture. The company is piloting the technology at its Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters, with an active reactor running on New York's East River.

Founded in 2022, Vycarb uses ocean-based chemistry paired with real-time sensor technology to convert captured CO2 into stable dissolved bicarbonate (HCO3-). New test results show the system can incorporate 99% of CO2 gas into water even at purity levels as low as 50%, with 85% of that CO2 converting into soluble bicarbonate, exceeding the company's initial targets.

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Bypassing the Purification Bottleneck

Purification has long been one of the most expensive and technically complex parts of traditional CCS, requiring CO2 to be compressed and transported to suitable geologic formations. Vycarb's next commercialization phase aims to validate 99% water incorporation at just 10% CO2 purity, a level already demonstrated in lab testing down to 1.5%. That means exhaust gas straight from fossil fuel combustion, unpurified, could feed directly into the system.

Independent Validation Underway

Vycarb is now working on third-party validation of these results alongside ocean monitoring partners, a step the carbon markets increasingly demand before crediting new removal pathways.

Dr. Garrett Boudinot, CEO and Founder of Vycarb: "Every industrial emitter we talk to faces the same problem."

Backed by Major Industry Players

Vycarb has drawn support from energy and mining majors including Shell and Rio Tinto, along with the U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, through which it has already sold verified carbon removal credits. The company closed a $5 million funding round last October and has since expanded its partnership network to include industrial CO2 management and ocean monitoring firms as it moves from pilot to commercial-scale deployment in 2026.

Dr. Garrett Boudinot, CEO and Founder of Vycarb, told ESG Dive: "there's also lots of CO2, not in water, but in the atmosphere."

Why It Matters for CCS Economics

Affordable, low-purity CO2 storage widens the pool of emitters that CCS can realistically serve, including coastal cement plants, wastewater treatment facilities, and industrial sites that previously found geologic sequestration cost-prohibitive. With the 45Q tax credit offering up to $85 per metric ton for captured and stored CO2, a low-cost storage method could accelerate adoption well beyond current pilot scale.

About Vycarb

Vycarb is a Brooklyn, New York-based technology company founded in 2022 by climate scientists, carbon chemists, and engineers. The company develops modular, sensor-driven systems that permanently store CO2 as dissolved bicarbonate in natural waters, offering a full-stack carbon capture and storage solution without the need for CO2 purification, compression, or geologic transport.