Carbon capture technology provider ION Clean Energy announced that it has raised $45 million from investors including energy giant Chevron’s low-carbon solutions-focused business Chevron New Energies (CNE), who led the round, and carbon management-focused investor Carbon Direct Capital.

Founded in 2008, Boulder, Colorado-based ION Clean Energy provides technology aimed at reducing the overall costs of post-combustion carbon dioxide capture, enabling it to be a more viable option for hard-to-abate emissions, such as power generation and industrial point sources. The company’s proprietary liquid absorbent process technology diverts CO2-rich gas from fuel burned in a boiler into an absorption tower, where its liquid solvent absorbs the CO2. The solvent is then heated to separate the CO2, which can be compressed and transported to be permanently sequestered or used for value-added products.

According to ION Clean Energy, the new capital will be used to fund the company’s organizational growth, and for the commercial deployment of its ICE-31 liquid amine carbon capture technology.

ION founder and Executive Chairman Buz Brown, said:

“We have truly special solvent technology. It is capable of very high capture efficiency with low energy use while simultaneously being exceptionally resistant to degradation with virtually undetectable emissions. That’s a pretty powerful combination that sets us apart from the competition. The investments from Chevron and Carbon Direct Capital are a huge testament to the hard work of our team and the potential of our technology.”

In addition to the new investment, ION also announced the appointment of Timothy Vail as its new CEO. Vail joins the company after serving as CEO of renewable fuels platform Arbor Renewable Gas, after serving as Founder and CEO of G2X Energy, now Proman USA, a company that specialized in the conversion of natural gas into automotive gasoline.

Vail said:

“With these investments, we are well positioned to grow ION into a worldwide provider of high-performance point source capture solutions. This capital allows us to accelerate the commercial deployment of our carbon capture technology.”

Chevron launched CNE in 2021, alongside plans to significantly ramp investments its low carbon businesses to over $10 billion by 2028. In addition to its investment in ION Clean Energy, CNE said that it looks to use the company’s ICE-31 technology to service customers with high volume and low concentration CO2 emissions, and that the investment also will provide it with the opportunity to partner with ION customers on projects to scale the technology sooner.

Chris Powers, Vice President of CCUS & Emerging at CNE, said:

“ION’s solvent technology, combined with Chevron’s assets and capabilities, has the potential to reach numerous emitters and support our ambitions of a lower carbon future. We believe collaborations like this are essential to our efforts to grow carbon capture on a global scale.”

Jonathan Goldberg, CEO of Carbon Direct Capital, added:

“We believe ION’s novel liquid amine solution is a game-changer for point source carbon capture. Especially for asset owners with hard-to-abate waste streams, ION has demonstrated exceptional performance coupled with standout environmental scores. ION has already received validation from the U.S. Department of Energy, EPC partners, and project customers. This round of growth capital is a further endorsement of ION’s technology by both financial and strategic investors.”