The start-up Greenlyte Carbon Technologies (GCT) ceremoniously put its "CO2 Direct Air Capture to Hydrogen Demonstrator" into operation in Essen at the end of October.
The GCT technology for direct air capture removes CO2 from the atmosphere, producing around 2 tonnes of green hydrogen as a by-product, according to the start-up. The special feature of the separation process is that it works with "unprecedented" energy efficiency and at low temperatures.
The start-up, which was founded out of the University of Duisburg-Essen, has been in existence since 2022. Following the construction of the first laboratory prototype in the same year, GCT has now commissioned the first pilot plant for its "CO2 hoover" technology. The plant is now to be further developed technologically. Over the next two years, the start-up plans to install the first demonstrator at a customer site. One of the first commercial projects is to be realised with the private brewery Jacob Stauder in Essen. The commissioning of the first kiloton plant in collaboration with a partner for hydrocarbon synthesis is then planned for 2026 and 2027.
GCT technology: three process steps to green hydrogen
Three main steps are required from CO2 capture from the air to the production of green hydrogen:
- Absorption in a liquid sorption solution
- Precipitation as hydrogen carbonate
- Desorption either by alkaline water electrolysis, which produces hydrogen as a by-product, or by thermal, low-calorific waste heat
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy wants to support processes that capture and utilise CO2 emissions in industry (CCU) with up to 200 million euros each.
"The Greenberry 2 is our first industrial CO2 hoover", says a delighted Florian Hildebrand, CEO and co-founder. "We would like to thank all our supporters who have helped us to achieve such a goal in such a short time. We want to build a global champion out of NRW and be able to absorb one gigatonne of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2050."
