Mantra takes step toward commercialization of ERC technology, inks MOU with Bluebird
The ERC technology not only has the potential to solve the CO2 problem, but it can do it right where industrial manufacturers are located.
Mantra Energy’s partnership with Bluebird Co. Ltd., a Korean environmental engineering firm, is another major step in the commercialization of the Vancouver firm’s electroreduction of carbon dioxide (ERC) technology. Mantra foresees building three ERC reactors one in each of Asia, Australia and North America.
It’s not yet certain that Asia will get the first ERC reactor, even though Mantra has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bluebird.
“That’s yet to be determined but it’s certainly moving in that direction when you’ve got a group like Bluebird taking the time and expense to move towards this type of technology and integrating into industries over there. Its’ definitely moving quickly towards that type of scenario,” Mantra president and CEO Larry Kristof tells Canadian Green Tech in an interview.
The two companies have set a deadline of May 31 to get a definitive agreement in place, and the MOU was a first and important step. Inked at the end of March, it calls for Bluebird to be an integral partner in the development, deployment and commercialization of Mantra Energy’s innovative technology. Bluebird has committed $3.5 million to develop commercial scale carbon dioxide processing equipment under the agreement. In return, Bluebird will become Mantra’s exclusive licensee, distributor and manufacturing
partner in Korea and other specified regions within Asia.
“The deal really shows that the technology is going global and that we are addressing it not just for our own backyard, but we’re putting it into places that need it and need these solutions quickly,” says Kristof. “We’ve got some really aggressive plans to move this thing forward.” Other countries such as Australia are also aggressively pursuing new environmental technologies. Delegates from the country down under have been criss-crossing the globe looking at these types of technologies, offering to fund 100% of the construction of demonstration sites, Kristof notes.
Building right next to industrial polluters
The ERC technology not only has the potential to solve the CO2 problem, but it can do it right where industrial manufacturers are located. Ideally, an ERC reactor would be built on the same site as a steal maker for example and could tap the flue gas at the source.
“If we can close a loop in a system like a steal facility, that’s optimal,” Kristof explains to Canadian Green Tech. “Those types of fits just make a lot of sense especially if you’re in close proximity to [an industrial site].”
The company is hoping that it can get agreements in place with different manufacturers in different regions so it can gather evidence on how the ERC technology works in various environments.
“That would be optimal because we could put them on three different types of customer sites. We could test different types of flue gas in our system. It gives us a lot more data to work to commercialize in the future,” says Kristof.
What is ERC, how does it work and what are its benefits?
ERC is novel process that converts CO2 in useable products such as formic acid, formates, Hydrogen and oxygen by mixing CO2 with a water electrolyte solution and then electrically charging it. Formic acid can replace hydrochloric acid in stealing making
and pulp and paper operations and formates are used to sterilize agricultural feed.
Rather than taking CO2 and pumping it underground as in carbon capture and storage (CCS), ERC takes the carbon dioxide and turns into useful products that can be sold, notes Kristof. “You’re not ending up with a product that you sell into a market at the end of the day,” he says of CCS. “So our technology seems a little more attractive in
that sense.” Mantra demonstrated the technical feasibility of the technology last october when it constructed a demonstrate site capable of 1 Kg of CO2 per day. Under the MOU with Bluebird, there are three phases to complete.
Phase 1:
Mantra will deliver a 1kg-per day ERC demonstration unit to Bluebird in Korea by November 2009, after which both companies will collaboratively develop and improve upon the current technology.
Phase 2:
Commencing in January 2010, the partnership will see the development and construction of the first commercial scale ERC reactor- capable of processing 1 ton of CO2 per day.
Phase 3:
Upon successful completion of Phases 1 and 2, Mantra and Bluebird will continue on to
Phase 3, the construction of a fully operational ERC unit with a 100-tonne per day capacity. Phase 3 is currently scheduled for 2012.
“The deal really shows that the technology is going global and that we are addressing it not just for our own backyard, but we’re putting it into places that need it and need these solutions quickly. We’ve got some really aggressive plans to move this thing forward.”
Larry Kristof
President and CEO
Mantra Energy
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