Chevron backs carbon capture startup

Oil major Chevron has made a Series C investment in San Jose-based Blue Planet Systems Corporation, a startup that manufactures and develops carbonate aggregates and carbon capture technology intended to reduce the carbon intensity of industrial operations.

Chevron Technology Ventures’ ongoing investment in carbon capture and utilization technologies supports Chevron’s focus on a diverse portfolio of lower-carbon solutions, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

In connection with its investment, Chevron and Blue Planet also executed a letter of intent to collaborate on potential pilot projects and commercial development in key geographies, with the goal of jointly advancing lower-carbon opportunities.

Blue Planet creates carbonate-based building aggregate made from flue gas-captured CO2. Distinct from some other industrial carbon capture and utilization technologies, Blue Planet’s process does not require CO2 purification and enrichment prior to use which can reduce cost and unit energy consumed during capture.

Founded in 2013, Blue Planet’s technology potentially enables permanent capture of CO2 in building materials at scale, converting CO2 to a lower-carbon product for sale in the growing global market of aggregates.

“Carbon capture, utilization, and storage, or CCUS, is viewed to be essential to advancing progress toward the global net-zero ambition of the Paris Agreement”, said Barbara Burger, VP of innovation and president of Technology Ventures at Chevron.

“This investment is made through our Future Energy Fund which focuses on startups with lower-carbon technologies that can scale commercially, and we welcome Blue Planet to this portfolio”, said Burger.

Brent Constantz, founder, CEO, and chief scientist at Blue Planet, said: “The investment may also provide future opportunities to incorporate Blue Planet’s approach into Chevron’s projects”.

In related news, Chevron in December 2020 revealed a 2021 organic capital and exploratory spending program of $14 billion and lowered its longer-term guidance to $14 to $16 billion annually through 2025.