Carbon removal companies are facing a tough time as carbon capture and storage becomes a priority on the climate agendas of European countries and the United States. This follows the endorsement of carbon removal technologies by the IPCC as a valuable part of the toolbox to achieve ambitious decarbonisation targets. In Central and Eastern Europe, the deployment of carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCSU) technologies could be even greater than in the West.
There are at least three reasons for this, according to CCS4CEEa project funded by the The EEA and Norway provide grants to reignite the debate on the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in CEE and lead to new joint policies and projects. Industry constitutes a vital part of the region’s economy, with a contribution to gross value added above the EU average. Industries like cement and chemicals have higher emissions than the EU average, and countries are significantly more dependent on fossil fuels.
With this in mind, we examined the state of carbon removal research, development and deployment in CEE and neighboring countries. CCS solutions remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it geologically, while CCU (carbon capture and utilization) solutions remove and reuse carbon, transforming it into more valuable substances or products (e.g. plastics, concrete or biofuel).
Below you will find a selection of recognized companies, startups and projects in the field of carbon removal in Central and Eastern Europe.
Carbon Removal Startups in CEE and Beyond
Business: Carbon
Location: Bulgaria, Austria
Solution: carbon market
Latest news: The company participated in the Rubik Garage Accelerator 2022.
Description: The company offers a platform of scientific carbon removal projects for European businesses and citizens. Projects are selected based on 8 criteria, including integrity, additionality, verification and localization.
Business: Green escrow
Location: Poland
Solution: carbon sequestration
Latest news: They are among the 20 semi-finalists of the Infoshare Startup Contest 2023. Previously, they were among the 8 startups that reached stage 2 of the Carbon Removal ClimaAccelerator.
Description: Green Sequest aims to remove carbon from the atmosphere by capturing it in stone through a process called enhanced rock weathering. The team is working to create affordable and scalable technology, using a rock called serpentine, which has a great capacity to capture and permanently store CO2.
Business: Carbominer
Location: Ukraine
Solution: carbon capture
Latest news: In 2020, the startup raised a seed investment from SMRK VC to create industrial modules for capturing CO2 in the open air.
Solution: The company is developing modular direct air capture technology designed for local CO2 capture. The technology is based on a mixture of dry and wet CO2 capture approaches, using an ion exchange sorbent in the capture stage and electrochemistry-based regeneration in the CO₂ release stage. One of the main advantages of Carbominer is that it harnesses intermittent energy from renewable sources.
Business: Agreena
Location: based in Denmark, present in 16 European markets, including the Republic of Moldova
Solution: soil carbon certification program
Latest funding: In March 2023, they raised €46 million in series B from German investor HV Capital, impact fund AENU, financial technology specialist Anthemis, and existing shareholders.
Description: They help farmers issue and sell third-party verified carbon certificates on the voluntary carbon market, which are then purchased by companies wishing to offset their emissions. Farmers can also use the digital platform to track, validate and plan improvements along their journey to reduce CO2 emissions and store them in the soil.
Business: Arkeon
Location: Austria
Solution: carbon removal
Latest funding: At the start of 2023, the startup raised €2.75M during a funding round led by ICL from ICL Planet Startup Hub. So far, they have raised $4.3 million.
Description: Arkeon has developed a fermentation bioprocess that captures and converts carbon dioxide into functional, carbon-negative ingredients for food, namely proteinogenic amino acids. To do this, they harness the power of archaea, an ancient microbe that is part of the microbiota of all organisms.
Business: Tree.ly
Location: Austria
Solution: carbon market
Description: The company works with forest owners, carbon offset organizations and public authorities to unlock the carbon capture potential of forests. Companies can purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions while supporting regional forest climate protection projects.
Business: Repair
Location: Israel
Solution: carbon capture
Latest news: The startup won the Dutch New Energy Challenge 2022 competition organized by Rockstart, Shell, Unknown Group and YES!Delft.
Description: The RepAir Direct Air Capture solution has developed an electrochemical device that uses electricity and a selective membrane to separate CO2 from the air. According to the company, the solution has the advantage of requiring less energy than other technologies, being modular and easily scalable, and requiring no heat or water.
Other carbon capture and storage projects in CEE
Several research and demonstration projects on carbon capture, storage and use have taken place in the CEE countries, often financed by industry or structural funds, and several of which have been abandoned or reported in a non-transparent manner. Below we present some of the most recent projects.
Business: Devnya Cement (subsidiary of HeidelbergCement)
Location: Bulgaria
Solution: carbon capture and storage
Latest news: They recently received 190 million euros from the EU Innovation Fund to make it a CCUS cluster for Bulgaria and the border regions of Romania and Greece.
Description: The company is working on the first comprehensive carbon capture and storage project in the Balkans. Their goal is to capture carbon dioxide from operations and store it permanently in the depleted Galata offshore gas field under the Black Sea.
Note: HeidelbergCement has also deployed or planned carbon removal pilot projects in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Business: IN A
Location: Croatia
Solution: carbon capture and storage
Description: It operates several carbon capture and storage projects including, since 2014, the CO2-EOR project on the Ivanić and Žutica oil fields. The project captures 0.56 Mt of CO2 per year from the Molve natural gas processing plant and routes it to the oil fields. The company also operates the iCORD project, aiming to capture around 1 tonne of CO2 per year from several sites in central Croatia (including a fertilizer factory and a natural gas processing station) and inject it into the Pannonia Basis oil field. It is planned to start by 2025.
Organization: Institute for Chemical Coal Processing (IChPW)
Location: Poland
Solution: carbon use
Description: The IChPW has developed an innovative method of capture, concentrate and purify CO2 by reusing it in the production of sodium carbonate. The technology was implemented by CIECH, one of Poland’s leading chemical producers, at a production plant in Inowrocław, reducing CO2 emissions by at least 5,000 tonnes per year.