Wastewater carbon removal company raises funds to expand reach

CREW Carbon, a US-based company that uses engineered enhanced weathering to remove CO2 from municipal and industrial wastewater systems, has raised €4.85 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round.

Strong appetite for carbon removal processes

The oversubscribed round was led by Counteract Partners, and included participation by ReGen Ventures, ANIMO, Connecticut Innovations, Ponderosa Ventures, Newlab, Echo River Capital, and the Carbon Drawdown Initiative.

Andy Bonsall, partner at Counteract, who led the round and specialises in backing solutions for gigaton-scale carbon removal, told media: "We're thrilled about CREW's game-changing technology that scales measurable carbon removal while simultaneously delivering key improvements for wastewater facilities.

He added: "By partnering with wastewater treatment plants, who are already important stewards of our communities and environment, CREW is tapping into existing infrastructure and keeping costs of deployment low. It's a win for municipalities, industry, and our journey to net-zero, solving long standing challenges with a demonstrated, low-cost solution."

The funding will enable CREW Carbon to expand its team and to deploy its technology and expertise at more wastewater plants, increasing its commercial operations at both current and future customer sites.

Using the natural power of minerals to treat wastewater

CREW Carbon's technology uses and enhances minerals to treat, remove and store CO2 at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The company partners with WWTP's to leverage existing infrastructure and to optimise biological treatment to remove the large amounts of CO2 present in WWTPs.

The seed funding will allow the company to continue developing its proprietary carbon monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system, which was developed through years of research at Yale University.

Dr Joachim Katchinoff, CREW co-founder and CEO, told media: "Robust greenhouse gas removal is needed, and needed swiftly, to limit the effects of climate change and to meet our climate goals."

He added: "CREW has identified that water resource recovery facilities are one of the best locations for rapid carbon removal. As a society we have spent decades building amazing wastewater treatment infrastructure to keep our environment safe; now, with CREW's technology, we can work with utility and industrial partners to supplement their treatment processes in a way that can measurably remove CO2 at scale while enabling safe and efficient wastewater treatment."

How the technology works

The company estimates that 1-3 gigatons of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses flow through municipal and industrial WWTPs in the US every year, and that capturing carbon at these sites is the equivalent of removing 230 million 'gasoline-burning' cars from the road.

The process uses a closed system approach utilising existing infrastructure and permits that takes place in three stages. Throughout the process the company deploys input and output sensor arrays to allow for extremely precise monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon removal.

Primary stage: Accurate measurement to determine dosing

Secondary stage: Wastewater dosed with crushed limestone, permanently trapping CO2 in a dissolved bicarbonate ion

Tertiary stage: Further monitoring to ensure accurate measurement and reporting of carbon capture before locked-in carbon is discharged to oceans, rivers, or aquifers in an environmentally stable form.