On 7 March 2023, eChemicles, a company working toward electrolyzing solutions, announced an investment of $1.3 million from the Blue Planet Venture Capital Fund. The Hungarian enterprise develops electrochemical reduction technology, which converts wasted carbon dioxide into more valuable chemicals such as carbon monoxide and ethylene. With this investment, eChemicles will be able to onboard more engineers, improve the scope of marketing, and initiate a scale-up.
The enterprise promises a “waste to wealth” approach where environmental solutions can be made profitable. The electrolyzing technology relies on electricity to ensure a high reaction rate, but according to their website, eChemicles.com, the process can be made entirely sustainable with carbon-free energy sources such as wind and solar power. As co-founder and Chairman of eChemicles, Dr Csaba Janáky, explains, “[w]e have developed and patented the first scalable low temperature electrolyzer stack, which will enable efficient electrochemical CO2 conversion at an industrial scale, using renewable energy. The technology possesses class-leading innovations to become an industrially viable solution once available at scale”.
Blue Planet Venture Capital Fund directs its resources toward companies that lead innovation in the mitigation of climate change. The CEO of the fund, Gábor Dányi emphasises on the importance of technological solutions for the energy crisis: “With the current turbulent energy situation in Europe, green solutions, substituting fossil resources, are more important than ever before”.
Amid the climate change catastrophe, excess greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing gas prices, investments in technological advancements in the field of sustainability are essential to restore the ecosystem.
