Carbon capture

Enzymes make carbon capture cleaner and smarter

Replace the chemicals traditionally used for post-combustion carbon capture with biological enzymes. Enzymatic carbon capture can make your process more affordable, sustainable and convenient. Saipem and Novozymes are collaborating to offer this innovative technology to the market.

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Better for business and the planet

“Convenient” isn’t a word typically associated with carbon capture. But enzymatic carbon capture is far more convenient than traditional post-combustion processes. With the potential for being more affordable and sustainable too.

For example, you can use low-quality waste heat – no need to install or maintain a boiler to produce energy-intensive steam for stripping. And you don’t need a special wastewater treatment system. That’s because, unlike the traditional approach, enzymatic carbon capture produces no harmful waste products.

It’s the cleanest, smartest way to capture carbon yet.

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Saipem and Novozymes offer the most efficient, affordable and eco-friendly carbon capture process

SAIPEM’s contribution

Developed the most advanced, enzyme-based carbon capture process with the expectation of bringing global carbon capture to the next level
Major international EPC
Offers solutions for the full value chain of CCUS
Extensive track record in plant construction and commissioning

Novozymes’ contribution

Global supply chain for enzyme products
Supplies large quantities of enzymes in bio-industrial solutions such as Biofuels
World-leading standards within enzyme quality of large-scale commercial products
World’s largest R&D muscle within enzyme research

Carbon capture is crucial

The global scientific community agrees: the planet cannot avoid being impacted by climate change. But we can counteract the severity of it – if we act immediately.

Carbon capture technology is crucial to reduce industrial emissions even after renewable energy alternatives are widely adopted. “Reaching net-zero will be virtually impossible without carbon capture, utilization and storage,” says the autonomous International Energy Agency. What’s more, the world must become carbon negative in the latter half of this century, reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Carbon capture can achieve an estimated 14% of the global greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed by 2050, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to forge practical solutions to climate change. It’s also considered the only practical way to achieve deep decarbonization in the industrial sector.

Industrial metallurgical plant emitting Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Using nature’s own CO₂ regulator in industry

The enzymatic carbon capture process uses the biological enzyme carbonic anhydrase instead of conventional chemicals to extract CO₂ from the flue gas. The traditional method creates degradation products that can harm people and the environment.

Carbonic anhydrase is active in the human lung and in all living creatures every time an organism breathes. It can convert HCO₃^- (bicarbonate) into CO₂ just as effectively as it can convert CO₂ into HCO₃^-. One of nature’s fastest-working enzymes, carbonic anhydrase reacts 1 million times per second.

Conventional vs. enzymatic carbon capture

Conventional	Enzymatic
Requires costly, energy-consuming high temperatures (120°C)	Requires 80°C heat, which can come from waste heat
Uses chemicals that leave toxic degradation products	Uses biological enzymes (carbonic anhydrase) and leaves no toxic degradation products
Requires special wastewater treatment systems	Does not require special wastewater treatment
Captures ~90% of the CO₂ in the flue gas	Captures ~90% of the CO₂ in the flue gas
Yields 99.95% pure CO₂	Yields ≥ 99.95% pure CO₂

Affordable carbon capture

The stripping step in the enzymatic carbon capture process requires thermal energy at 80°C; traditional carbon capture requires 120°C. According to a study by SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest independent research organizations, using waste heat from a cement plant, for example, can save at least 25% of carbon capture and liquefaction costs.

What’s more, unlike conventional solvents, enzymes are not corrosive. This increases process reliability and means you can use less expensive steel or plastic equipment. Because enzymes tolerate flue gas contaminants, you don’t have the expense of gas pre-treatment either.

Sustainable carbon capture

The enzymatic carbon capture process produces no toxic waste, aerosols or contaminants. Requiring less energy than the conventional process, it is based on nature’s own technique for CO₂ regulation. Traditional solvents used for carbon capture are produced from the hazardous chemicals ethylene oxide and ammonia.

Carbon capture that uses only traditional chemicals and energy-intensive processes strains Earth’s resources. Enzymatic carbon capture protects them.

Captured carbon has many uses

What happens to the carbon that is captured? While most in the near future will be safely stored underground in geologic storage facilities, productive new opportunities are constantly emerging. Carbon capture can also be a source of revenue.

For example, captured carbon is being used to:

Manufacture building materials
Produce fertilizer with less environmental impact
Carbonate beer and soft drinks
Enrich greenhouses
Support Power-to-X solutions
Produce methanol

Find out how much your business can benefit

Does your plant have the optimal conditions to benefit? If you have waste heat available, your opportunities to save money with the enzymatic process are the greatest. If not, costs could be on par with the traditional process. The non-toxic enzymatic process better protects the local environment.

Contact us, and we’ll let you know whether you’re likely to benefit most from enzymatic carbon capture or the traditional process. Of course we’d like your business – but our main concern is capturing as much carbon as possible. Before it’s too late.

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See how efficiently Novozymes enzymes capture carbon

As you can see in this Novozymes lab demonstration, carbonic anhydrase captures millions of carbon dioxide molecules every second and turns them into carbonate. The enzyme increases the speed of the reaction and ensures that the captured CO₂ does not leave the solution until it is heated. The indicator used in the demo is bromothymol blue.

Interested in hearing more about the cleanest, smartest way to capture carbon? Our experts are happy to help and answer your questions.

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Looking for solutions that go beyond our current portfolio? At Novozymes, we're always excited to hear new ideas for biosolutions and help bring them to life.