DURHAM – Two Triangle entities – climate tech firm 8 Rivers in Durham and RTI International – are part of a $10 million federal grant to develop a carbon recapture project near Mobile, Ala.
The award for a Direct Air Recapture hub was announced Friday and includes $10.2 million in non-Department of Energy funding.
8 Rivers graphic
Here is the DOE’s description of the project:
Southeast DAC Hub: Leveraging Legacy Work in Mobile Region
Southern States Energy Board (Peachtree Corners, Georgia), in coordination with site host Alabama Power Company, plans to develop the Southeast DAC (SEDAC) Hub project to support the deployment of DAC technology in Mobile County, Alabama. The project team includes personnel from various organizations, including 8 Rivers, Aircapture, Crescent Resource Innovation, ENTECH Strategies, Georgia Tech, Mitternight, RTI International, Southern Company Services, the University of Alabama, and the University of South Alabama. The anchoring technologies for the SEDAC Hub were developed or optimized by 8 Rivers and Aircapture.
- DOE Funding: $10,242,232
- Non-DOE Funding: $10,242,234
- Total Value: $20,484,466
8 Rivers’ Calcite technology will be part of the “front end engineering and design” for the hub. The project aims to capture 50,000 tons of CO2 a year as part of an effort to combat climate change.
Here’s how 8 Rivers defines its Calcite technology: It “uses a calcium sorbent to capture CO2 directly from the air and sequester it safely underground. The proprietary Calcite process enhances the natural carbon absorbing properties of hydrated lime, reacting it with ambient air to form limestone. The limestone is then heated by an oxygen fired kiln, which separates the CO2 for sequestration and produces additional hydrated lime to be replaced into the system.”
“8 Rivers is proud to be selected for the DAC Hub Program, in this pivotal moment for direct air capture amidst the global push for decarbonization,” said 8 Rivers CEO Cam Hosie in a statement. “Scalable and affordable carbon removal technology is vital to reaching Net Zero by 2050. Calcite is an ideal technology for accelerating the scale-up of direct air capture as a key solution for hard-to-abate industries and can grow to achieve gigaton-scale removal. We look forward to accelerating the deployment of Calcite with the support of the US Department of Energy in Mobile County.”
Calcite was invented in 2019 and has received previous DOE funding. It also was recognized with a $1 million XPRIZE for carbon removal.
