Vycarb - CDR Innovator Showcase

Today’s interview is with Greg Humphries, Head of Business Operations, VyCarb

What is Vycarb?

For those unfamiliar, what is VyCarb, and how does it uniquely contribute to the carbon removal ecosystem?

Greg Humphries - We develop technology that removes and permanently stores CO₂ from industrial processes using a water-based mineralization process. Our technology is designed to work with a range of CO2 sources, converting it into stable bicarbonate in water which safely stores carbon for thousands of years.

Right now, the only real solution for CO₂ storage at scale is geological storage, but there are lots of issues with that approach. Since geological storage sites are heavily constrained geographically, CO₂ has to be compressed, purified, and transported long distances before it can be injected underground. Unfortunately, that means that some sites which are otherwise ready to deploy point source capture have no way to store that CO₂. By enabling permanent, measurable storage at or near the source—and by accepting low-purity CO₂ streams—Vycarb opens the door for high-quality, verifiable CDR in regions where traditional geological storage isn’t feasible.

CDR Process

Vycarb's technology accelerates the natural conversion of CO₂ into bicarbonate in water. Could you elaborate on how this process works and why it's considered both immediate and permanent?

Greg Humphries - We refer to our process as CO₂ neutralization, where we convert CO2 to bicarbonate directly and measurably in a closed-loop system. Our tech quantifies incoming CO₂, and then doses and dissolves  a precise volume of alkaline feedstock into the water. That feedstock converts the excess CO₂ to HCO₃ and CO₃ within the closed loop before release, making the reaction immediate, and controls the reaction rates to maintain output water chemistry and bicarbonate concentration below saturation states, ensuring its permanence when released in natural waters. Since that reaction occurs entirely within the boundaries of our system, we have a vastly higher degree of confidence in both the immediacy and permanence of the reaction – with no reliance on downstream effects for the storage of the CO2.

Transparency

Measurement and verification are critical in carbon removal. How does Vycarb's real-time sensing technology enhance transparency and trust in your carbon sequestration process?

Greg Humphries - A major part of Vycarb’s technology stack is our unique sensing approach, which directly quantifies CO2, bicarbonate, carbonate, and other water chemistry parameters in real time and in situ. We integrate this sensor within several points of our full stack carbon removal and storage system allowing us to fully quantify the input and output carbon chemistry and control the reaction rates within the system. Because the CO2 neutralization approach has no reliance on downstream uptake of CO₂, we’re not claiming any additional removal that might happen outside the boundaries of our system or trying to model those effects. Instead, we’re measuring the precise reaction that we initiate directly and in real-time. 

Pilot Program

Your pilot program in New York City's East River is currently injecting and storing CO2 as we speak. What have been the key operational takeaways from this pilot-scale deployment, and how do they inform your pathway to deployment at an industrial facility?

Greg Humphries - Our pilot in the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been absolutely crucial in developing our tech. Having that system right by our office has allowed us to iterate rapidly, fix issues quickly, and develop an incredibly granular understanding of everything that goes into system operations. One of the biggest takeaways there was around the importance of autonomous control for industrial-scale deployment. This was always a core part of our design philosophy, but operating throughout all four seasons has really driven home how vital it is to have a technology that can self-optimize, enabling a seamless integration into industrial facilities where this carbon removal and storage approach can be deployed effectively at scale .

Technology

As industries look for scalable carbon removal and storage options, where do you see VyCarb’s technology fitting into the industrial decarbonization toolkit, particularly for sectors with limited access to traditional storage solutions for point-source emissions?

Greg Humphries - We see ourselves really as an alternative to traditional storage solutions – most notably geological storage. For some use cases, geological storage makes a lot of sense. But if you’re on the coast or a big river and there aren’t any class VI wells getting permitted near you, it’s almost certainly more cost effective to use the carbon sink that’s right on your doorstep: water! If you’re a DAC project or an industrial facility planning a CCUS project and scratching your head about what to do if that class VI application doesn’t come through, you really should drop us an email. We want to be that alternative solution to the often  prohibitively costly incumbent.

Regulations

With the ability to operate in various water settings, how does VyCarb ensure its technology is adaptable and safe across different ecosystems and regulatory landscapes?

Greg Humphries - This connects back to the core philosophy of the company: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. We truly believe that direct measurement is vital for a safe and trustworthy carbon industry, and our real time sensing approach for the full water carbon cycle allows our system to continuously self-optimize for safe and permanent bicarbonate concentrations regardless of input water chemistry across various settings. But we also see the importance in involving other partners in that process. That means private, public and academic institutions performing their own measuring and monitoring to verify that our process is not only safe, but actually effective. As we deploy more projects in more varied locations, we’ll be continuing to work with those kinds of partners at each deployment and to be open and transparent with the data we’re generating.

Partnerships

As demand for high-integrity carbon removal and storage solutions grows, how is Vycarb building partnerships with industrial emitters, infrastructure providers, or governments to integrate its technology into broader decarbonization efforts?

Greg Humphries - A lot of our business development work over the past few months has focussed on working with a range of groups that have CO2 and are looking for a permanent and fully measured storage solution. This includes bioenergy facilities ideal for BECCS, DAC companies, and other industrial facilities in the materials and energy sectors. The response we’ve seen there has been overwhelmingly positive. A number of companies need to deploy permanent carbon storage projects and, yet, are well aware that geological storage is not a viable solution for them. We’re building out our pipeline of opportunities, and want to talk with companies across those sectors who have CO₂ they need storing, or are interested in generating additional revenue via CO₂ storage.

Long-Term Impact

What’s the biggest challenge in storing CO₂ securely at scale, and how is Vycarb addressing those challenges to ensure long-term impact?

Greg Humphries - Effective, gigatonne-scale carbon sequestration will require a lot of disparate industries to collaborate and communicate with each-other. We need scientists and engineers who can build quickly, academics who can deliver trustworthy and high quality monitoring, legislators who can drive forward bills and funding, banks who can deploy capital in complex, sophisticated structures, and large corporates who can organize and operate capital and personnel-intensive assets at scale. Unfortunately, all of those players speak different languages and work in different ways. To be successful, we have to figure out how to communicate and coordinate with all of those players. It’s not an easy task. The whole carbon removal industry has to figure out how to speak the language of those different partners to turn pilots into real commercial projects. It’s a hurdle that can certainly be overcome, but will take thoughtful communication and planning to do so.