Leipzig-based start-up converts CO₂ into green chemicals with patented plasma catalysis
CO₂ recycling as a useful complement to carbon capture and storage
There is international consensus among climate scientists that further global warming can only be stopped if, in addition to actively reducing CO2 emissions, huge quantities of greenhouse gases can be removed from the atmosphere. This is where the Leipzig-based start-up enaDyne provides an innovative and versatile solution approach with its proprietary plasma catalysis technology.
"We see our technology as an important and useful addition to carbon capture and storage technologies. This is because enaDyne can recycle CO2 particularly efficiently with plasma catalysis. In this way, we can avoid CO2 emissions and profitably produce sustainable chemicals - for example, ethylene - which is currently still obtained on a fossil basis. With our technology, the pollutant is converted into a sought-after valuable material -CO2 recycling really can't get any more sustainable and profitable than this," explains enaDyne CEO Philipp Hahn.
Patented ceramics as a technological gamechanger
In addition to recycling CO2, the young company's major goal is to create a closed-loop economy that can be used to defossilize the chemical industry so that in the future it will no longer have to use oil and gas as a basic resource for carbon-based chemicals.
At the heart of enaDyne's development is a non-thermal plasma catalysis reactor. This can extract C1 to C4 hydrocarbons from CO2 and a hydrogen source - for example, green methane - which in turn can be used to produce sustainable fuels and as sustainable base chemicals. The technological gamechanger here is a special and patented ceramic used as an active electrode in the enaDyne reactors. The technology drastically reduces energy use, makes the plasma more controllable, and enables flexible use of the reactors in a wide range of applications. In modular container systems, the technology can also flexibly and scalably produce methanol or formaldehyde green wherever CO2 is produced in biogas plants or point sources in industry.
Award-winning and in demand
enaDyne was nominated in the spring by the City of New York's Urban Future Lab as a participant in the Carbon to Value Initiative: The C2V initiative selected enaDyne and seven other startups out of 161 applications from 26 countries for the third year of its Carbontech Accelerator program. In June, EnaDyne won the IQ Innovation Award for Central Germany and the Cluster Award for Chemistry. But growing demand from industry also confirms the company's approach to finding solutions: "Most of the industrial partners relevant to us are just realizing that they need alternative carbon sources that don't come out of the ground. We are currently actively sounding out which partners we can bring on board in the future. There is exciting potential here both in Germany and abroad," adds Philipp Hahn.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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