CarbonQuest

CarbonQuest, founded in 2019, provides distributed carbon capture solutions tailored for small- to medium-scale emitters, a market segment often overlooked by larger-scale carbon capture applications. The company was established by a team of entrepreneurs, including CEO Shane Johnson and Chairman Dave Curry, who have a history of building and successfully exiting technology companies, such as Demand Energy Networks and World Wide Packets. This background in energy and telecommunications provided the team with the expertise to tackle complex, hardware-intensive challenges, a philosophy they've applied to decarbonization.

The firm targets emissions from natural gas consumption in buildings, industrial facilities, and onsite power generation systems like boilers and fuel cells, which can account for up to 50% of a site's total CO2 emissions. CarbonQuest's business model revolves around its proprietary Distributed Carbon Capture™ technology, a modular system that captures up to 90-95% of CO2 from flue exhausts using a non-toxic, solid sorbent filter. This system is designed for space-constrained environments, offering a turnkey installation that avoids operational disruptions. The company has introduced a "Carbon Capture-as-a-Service" model, allowing clients to install the system with no upfront capital cost, instead paying through a multi-year service agreement that guarantees a minimum amount of captured CO2.

Once captured, the CO2 is liquefied on-site and sold as "Sustainable CO2™" to various off-takers, creating a circular economy. This recycled CO2 is used in processes like concrete manufacturing, where it is permanently sequestered, and in the food and beverage industry for carbonation and preservation. This approach not only helps clients meet emissions regulations and ESG goals but also provides a resilient, local source of CO2, insulating them from volatile supply chains. To complement its hardware, CarbonQuest developed the Carbon Management System™, a cloud-based software that provides real-time data and analytics for tracking and reporting captured emissions. The company has deployed its systems in multiple locations, including several buildings in New York City, and has expanded into the food and beverage market. After being largely self-funded, CarbonQuest secured $20 million in a Series A funding round to scale its operations across North America.

Keywords: distributed carbon capture, point-source capture, CO2 liquefaction, building decarbonization, carbon capture utilization and storage, CCUS, Sustainable CO2, circular economy, emissions reduction technology, flue gas separation, solid sorbent technology, industrial emissions, carbon management software, cleantech, ESG solutions, energy transition, hard-to-abate sectors, onsite power generation, CO2 as a service, green molecules