High Wire Networks Inc (HWNI)

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MVTG web site with details on the ERC technology:

http://www.mantraenergy.com/Technology/ERCTechnology.aspx

Found on WIKI:

In November 2007, Mantra Venture Group Ltd.[7] acquired a chemical processing technology developed by the University of British Columbia's Clean Energy Research Center, entitled the Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide (ERC).[8] Powered by electricity, ERC combines captured carbon dioxide with water to produce high value materials that are conventionally obtained from the thermochemical processing of fossil fuels, including: formic acid, formate salts, oxalic acid, and methanol.

Rather than worry about the impacts and properties of CO2, ERC harnesses its useful properties and transforms the gas into several useful and valuable by-products.

ERC first proved itself as a legitimate alternative to CCS in October 2008 through Mantra Energy’s completion of the first ERC prototype. The prototype, capable of converting 1 kg of CO2 into formic acid per day, was revealed to the public later that month at the Sustainability 2008 conference held in Vancouver, BC. ERC received its first grant under the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC - IRAP) in May 2009, and the technical staff has since been focused on increasing the cathode life, reducing formate cross-over to retrieve formate from the catholyte solution, and optimizing the reactor with respect to its use in processes for the electrosynthesis of formate/formic acid. Considerable progress has been made in this effort, and in July 2009 the ERC reactor reached new heights by increasing its current efficiency to 89.66% (up from 46.24%) through the use of a new proprietary catalyst structure. With political and regulatory concern for CO2 mitigation reaching an all-time high, the timing for ERC could not be better. In June, the IEA predicted the price of carbon emissions must rise to $180/tonne by 2030 to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. In addition, the market price of formic acid is also on the rise and is expected to hit $1,440/tonne by year-end. These increasing market values, coupled with the many government grant and incentive programs for carbon recycling and CCS, indicate a very bright future for ERC. (Sethuraman, 2009). The ERC technology was co-invented by Professor Emeritus Colin Oloman and Hui Li at the University of British Columbia’s Clean Energy Research Center (CERC). Mantra Energy later acquired the 100% outright ownership of the technology from the CERC in November 2007. The technology is currently Patent pending worldwide, under the PCT Patent Application WO2007/041872 “Continuous co-current electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide.”
[edit] Carbon Balance

To be considered a viable carbon recycling technology, one must prove that the technology has a negative net carbon balance – meaning the carbon output during the conversion process is less than amount of carbon being converted. In August 2009, Mantra Energy completed a preliminary carbon balance report on its ERC technology, entitled “Possible Reactions Related to Carbon Credits – ERC Process of Mantra Energy.”

In completing the analysis, it was determined that one tonne of formic acid formed through ERC effectively “sequesters” approximately 0.95 tonnes of CO2. Assuming that the formic acid is then incorporated into compounds with a long lifetime (as is the plan for ERC), the resulting formic acid is considered a green product. When powered by sustainable electricity, the ERC process would then carry a net gain of +0.95 CO2 credits per tonne of formic acid formed. Furthermore, it was noted that when the formic acid is used to substitute another fossil-based compound, additional “replacement credits” can be obtained. For example, Mantra Energy has previously identified formic acid as a key replacement for hydrochloric acid (HCI) in industrial processes such as steel pickling. By substituting HCI with formic acid generated through ERC, it was determined that Mantra Energy would generate +0.95 carbon credits for the conversion of CO2 to formic acid, plus an additional +2.53 credits for replacing HCI from a conventional source. Thus, a total of +3.48 CO2 credits would be generated per tonne of formic acid produced. In benefiting from both sequestered and replacement credits, preliminary calculations showed that ERC could generate as much as 5.98 carbon credits per tonne of reactant formed. The negative carbon balance scenarios identified through this preliminary report are very encouraging. Mantra Energy expects to achieve even further improvements to its carbon balance throughout the current set of development trials with Kemetco Research Inc., and the company will complete a formalized carbon balance study upon completion of the development project.
[edit] Competition

There are currently no industrial practices in place that safely mitigate the expulsion of CO2 into the atmosphere. Currently, the most commonly proposed industrial practice is the capture of CO2 and injecting it underground for storage in a process called carbon sequestration. However, full carbon capture and storage systems for large-scale power plants are currently far from being cost effective. According to the European Commission, the process will still cost more than the release of CO2 into the air in 2020 (with an estimated permit price of 41 Euro per metric tonne). Although carbon capture and storage may show promise for enhanced oil recovery, this is a very industrial specific application that can only be applied in specific locations. Other potential applications, such as chemical processing or treatment by algae are in the R&D stage, however, practical applications have not yet been proven. Given these constraints, the European Commission expects power firms will sequester only 7 million metric tonnes of CO2 annually by 2020- representing less than 1% of the CO2 they currently generate. (Fairley, Aug 15, 2009) In addition to economic feasibility, sequestration also faces significant stewardship challenges. For example, a CCS project under the direction of Vattenfall in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany was recently halted due a lack of clear CO2 storage legislation from the German government.
Competitive Advantage

Mantra Eneergy asserts the following advantages of ERC in comparison with alternative methods of CO2 mitigating techniques: The ERC process is driven by electric energy • that can be taken from an electric power grid supplied by hydro, wind, solar, tidal or nuclear energy (all renewable). • ERC by-products represent useful, and financially profitable sources of income (contributing to an estimated ROI of 24%) • ERC pilot projects can be executed on any scale, whereas sequestration can only be performed on a very large scale (typically at costs of over $1billion) • ERC avoids liability concerns currently plaguing sequestration industry • Medium reaction rate allows for commercially viable CO2 processing times • Medium CO2 space velocity gives the ability to treat comparatively large volumes of CO2. • High product selectivity for formate and formic acid (up to 90%) • Low operating temperature (20° to 80° Celsius) and pressure (below 1 MPa or magnitude of pressure) • Hydrogen is not required as a feed reactant, but is already present in water used in the process • Physical space requirements and subsequent environmental foot-print are less than that of CCS and algae • ERC is patent pending

* Process is driven by electric energy that can be taken from an electric power grid supplied by hydro, wind, solar, tidal or nuclear energy (all renewable).
* Medium reaction rate allows for commercial viable CO2 processing times
* Medium CO2 space velocity gives the ability to treat comparatively large volumes of CO2.
* High product selectivity for formate and formic acid (up to 90%)