Bite-Size-Climate-Tech

Take on a podcast episode from Bite-Size Climate Tech, originally published Mon, 26 Oc. Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lydiaclinzi/episodes/The-Replacement-for-the-Replacement--Andreas-Bremen--Co-reactive-e3r3moo TL;DR Co-reactive makes a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) by carbonating milled minerals with CO2 in a tubular reactor — storage happens inside the product, not underground. The pitch isn’t lower-carbon cement; it’s replacing fly ash and slag, which are vanishing as coal plants close and steel moves to direct reduction. Useful framing. Scale path: 1,000 t/yr demo now, 10,000 t by end of 2027, 100,000 t before 2030. A cement plant does ~1 Mt. Honest about the gap. Reaction time cut from years (ambient) to ~1 hour via milling, heat, pressure, additives. Feedstock not specified. Water: 250 kg/t product, recirculated, vs ~150 kg/t for cement. Not a removal play yet — CO2 source is point-source, not air. Lydia Chen’s Bite-Size Climate Tech sits down with Andreas Bremen, chemical engineer, mineralization PhD and co-founder of Co-reactive, for a short tour of their carbonation-to-SCM process, the 1,000 t/yr demonstration plant in Erkrath, and the go-to-market logic. Recorded 3 September 2026. Episode here. ...

Take on a podcast episode from Bite-Size Climate Tech, originally published Tue, 29 Se. Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lydiaclinzi/episodes/CO-to-Ethylene-with-Alex-Ip--CERT-Systems-e3piese TL;DR CERT Systems makes ethylene from CO₂, water and electricity via direct electrolysis; drop-in identical to fossil ethylene. This is utilization, not removal — keep that straight. Market framing: ~200 Mt ethylene/yr, ~250 Mt CO₂ emitted making it. Useful order-of-magnitude anchor. Scale today: a direct-air-capture-to-ethylene pilot at ~1 kg CO₂/day. Target: tens of tons of ethylene/yr “in the next couple of years.” That’s ~2–3 orders of magnitude. Cost: competitive with bio-based polyethylene, still a premium over fossil. Parity thesis rests on refinery integration (O₂, H₂, heat) and cheaper electricity. Plausible, unproven. Tencent CarbonX award funds the commercial demo and pushes CO₂-based materials into consumer products via CarbonXMade. Notable: Chinese corporate capital, not Western buyers. Lydia Clinzi’s Bite-Size Climate Tech hosts Alex Ip, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based CERT Systems, in a roughly 25-minute Season 5 conversation (“Climate Tech Is Just Good Business”). The episode covers the electrolyzer mechanism (the “sandwich” of catalyst-coated electrodes stacked into a reactor), the drop-in argument, current scale, the cost path, and what the CarbonX win unlocks. It is pitched at a general audience, with an eight-year-old explainer segment. ...

Take on a podcast episode from Bite-Size Climate Tech, originally published Sun, 30 Au. Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lydiaclinzi/episodes/Brineworks-From-Magic-Box-to-Upgraded-Suit--CO--H-for-E-Fuels-e3o34o3 TL;DR Brineworks pivoted from direct ocean capture to a closed-loop land-based system using purchased salt + reverse-osmosis water. Bigger addressable market, but loses the “ocean is free feedstock” story. Co-produces CO₂ and hydrogen from one electrochemical pH-swing box — pitched as the differentiator vs. other electrochemical direct air capture players optimizing purely for energy efficiency. Cost targets: sub-$200/t CO₂ by 2030, near $100/t by 2035. Aggressive but in the same range peers are quoting. Explicitly designed for intermittent operation (20-50% capacity factor) on cheap solar/wind — a design choice worth taking seriously. Target customer is e-fuel project developers, not carbon removal buyers. This is really a feedstock company now, not a durable removal company. Lydia Clinzi hosts Joel Parman, CTO and co-founder of Brineworks, returning to Bite-Size Climate Tech two years after his first appearance. The episode covers Brineworks’ pivot from direct ocean capture to a land-based closed-loop electrochemical system that co-produces CO₂ and green hydrogen for synthetic fuels. ...

Take on a YouTube video from Bite-Size Climate Tech, originally posted 2026-08-31. Watch the source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1KylS2Dnq8 TL;DR Brineworks (formerly pitched as direct ocean capture) has moved its electrochemical pH-swing box onto land, running a closed salt-water loop instead of once-through seawater. Core pitch: co-produces high-purity CO₂ and green hydrogen from the same electrolyzer, targeting e-fuel feedstock rather than pure carbon removal. Deliberately higher energy per unit output, but low capex, earth-abundant materials, no rare earths or expensive membranes — designed to run 20–50% duty cycle on cheap intermittent renewables. Interviewer confusingly introduces the guest as “Brimstone” CTO Joe Peraman; company is Brineworks. Worth flagging before you cite. Light on numbers — no $/tCO₂, no $/kg H₂, no energy intensity figures. Directional, not diligence-grade. Video link. This is a short “Bite-Size Climate Tech” follow-up with Brineworks CTO/co-founder Joe Peraman, two years after his first appearance when the company was still an electrochemical direct ocean capture (DOC) play. The substantive update: they’ve abandoned seawater feed, replaced it with a closed-loop synthetic brine (RO water plus bagged salts), and repositioned as a co-producer of CO₂ and green H₂ for e-fuel synthesis. ...