Climeworks and Antecy join forces

Climeworks AG, a spinoff of the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and Dutch company Antecy B.V. are joining forces. According to a press release, the two want to develop more effective solutions for removing climate-relevant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The two companies have been discussing a collaboration since mid-2018 and reached an agreement in April 2019 that sees Climeworks acquire Antecy’s assets.

“By complementing our portfolio with new technologies such as those developed by Antecy, we can further strengthen our offerings to the market,” said Climeworks co-founder and CEO Jan Wurzbacher.

Climeworks captures CO2 from the air with the world’s first commercial carbon removal technology and sells the gas, which can be used to produce synthetic fuels or as carbonation for sparkling drinks. The captured air can even be used as a fertilizer for greenhouses.

Its Direct Air Capture (DAC) plants are capable of removing around 900 tonnes of CO2 from the air each year. The first plant of this kind is located on the roof of a waste recovery facility in Hinwil in the canton of Zurich and operated by the municipal administration union KEZO.

Climeworks has been designing modular CO2 collectors since 2009 that use different sorbent materials and operate with different processes. The Antecy team has extensive experience in developing alternative sorbent materials and process developing, as well as customers and public funding bodies.

By fully merging the teams, technology development, brands and business activities, Climeworks hopes to accelerate further development of its DAC technology.