As governments and private entities battle the emission problem and work towards a pollution-free environment, challenges abound. However, there are a number of companies and start-ups that are looking for unique solutions to make a positive difference to the environment.

One such start-up is Breathe Applied Sciences, which is seeking to address the issue of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by converting it into fuels.

Founded by Rakshith Raghavan Belur, Umesh Waghmare and Sebastian C Peter, Breathe has developed commercially viable and scalable technological solutions to problems related to climate change.

Founded in 2016 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, its current focus is the development of technology to convert CO2 from combustion flue gas into useful chemicals and fuels by using catalysts, thus providing an end-to-end solution to the problem of CO2 disposal.

Detailing the company’s plans, the founders say they are in discussions with several leading companies, including Indian Oil, to offer them solutions and know-how to convert CO2 into methanol in a cost-effective manner. This could then be used as fuel by making suitable changes.

Pilot plant coming up

“We are in the process of setting up a pilot plant in Bengaluru and another one in Wyoming in the US,” discloses Sebastian, “These will serve as demo projects that can be replicated.” At present, the focus is on methanol, which is consumed extensively in a wide variety of industries, including energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

The founders feel there is great potential in the technology they are offering. “India presently consumes about two million tonnes of methanol, of which only 20 per cent is produced locally. The rest is being imported. The size of the methanol market in India alone amounts to around $1 billion, which is anticipated to grow with the introduction of the ‘Methanol Economy’. The government is taking measures to introduce methanol by blending it in gasoline, incentivising usage of cleaner cooking stoves, to list a few measures,” they say.

The promoters say the company, through its technology, can completely home-grow methanol from CO2. Coal-fired power stations emit about 500 million tonnes of CO2 in a year and 200 million tonnes of methanol can be produced using Breathe’s solutions.

“This not only enables us to eliminate imports but also reduces GHG emissions compared to the conventional methanol-producing plants,” they explain.

While methanol is the present target of Breathe’s technology, carbon monoxide, a related product that has a niche market, can be readily produced with a suitable change in the catalyst and operating conditions.

It must be noted that the CO2 capture technology is well-established and readily available. The current focus is primarily on developing the conversion technology and integrating it with different CO2 capture subsystems to offer a complete solution.

The first investment in Breathe came from the Karnataka government, which rated Breathe as one of the top 100 innovative start-ups of the State. Breathe was chosen from a pool of 1,700 start-ups through many rounds of evaluation by venture capitalists and industry experts. “This has given us a platform to attract funding from various domestic sources. In the next five years, we are targeting a significant fraction of the $1-billion methanol market in India, which is currently dependent on imports, and the $37-billion international market,” say the founders.

To be able to work with power stations fuelled by either coal or natural gas, Breathe has ensured access to respective capture technologies through partnerships. “We are engaged in talks with IOCL, Coal India Ltd, NTPC and Tata Steel, among others,” says Peter, adding that they are in the finals of the NRG COSIA Carbon X Prize, which is a global competition worth $20 million to develop breakthrough technologies that will convert CO₂ emissions from power plants.

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