Despite its refocusing on energy, Engie is still interested in CCUS, solutions for capturing, storing and using CO2.If we help our customers decarbonize with the supply of renewable energy, there will remain incompressible emissions“, recalls Alexis Manuel, head of carbon markets at Engie. This is the case for Engie itself, which knows that its objective of carbon neutrality in 2045 on scopes 1, 2 and 3 cannot be achieved without carbon offsetting.
After minority investments in start-ups such as the French CryoCollect, specializing in the capture of biogenic CO2 from methanization, or the German Ineratec in the production of e-fuel, Engie New Venture announced an investment in CarbonX on September 5.
Identify the best projects
This Parisian start-up, created in the summer of 2022, is positioning itself on the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market, which promises the production of carbon credits that are much more robust and reliable than those linked to forest preservation. The start-up identifies the best projects for air capture (AC) with mineralization in rock, enhanced weathering (enhanced CO2 alteration), absorption in the ocean or sustainable storage in biomass. “Our role is to support customers in the purchase of carbon credits, to list projects in development and to help customers choose the most competitive projects by also providing critical infrastructure to enable companies to engage,” explains Paolo Piffaretti, founder and CEO of CarbonX.
Securing the purchase of solid carbon credits
The start-up is organising visits to four projects already in operation in Norway at Exergi, in Switzerland at Neustark, in Scotland at OCO Technologies and in Germany at Novocarbo. It already has some 50,000 tonnes of carbon credits under management per year. “We are looking to set up a kind of PPA, or long-term contracts, which allow companies to invest in carbon elimination projects and then benefit from the carbon credits generated,” explains the head of CarbonX. It has already attracted four clients, including a large industrialist from northern Europe.
In this emerging market, the start-up is one of the ten largest players in the world. The global potential of EDC would be 7 to 9 gigatons of CO2 per year in 2050. Engie plans to offer CarbonX services to its customers.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
