8 Rivers Capital, LLC, a world-leading decarbonization technology and project developer, announced an investment from JX Nippon Oil Exploration (U.S.A.) Limited, an affiliate company of JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation (JX) into 8 Rivers’ proprietary Calcite direct air capture (DAC) solution. This funding will support the deployment of 8 Rivers' Calcite DAC solution as it moves from pilot into commercial project development.
Project Cardinal, the first commercial deployment of the Calcite technology, is expected to be constructed in the U.S. Gulf Coast with FEED to commence in 2025. The SEDAC hub, which includes Calcite and 8 Rivers along with its partners, was awarded $20.5M to complete FEED studies required to support the construction and operation of two DAC facilities, each with an initial capture capacity of 50,000 net DAC tonnes of CO2. JX’s investment will also support additional technology derisking at Calcite’s pilot project in Mobile, AL. Both projects will demonstrate Calcite’s potential as an affordable, scalable emissions-reduction solution.
The investment is JX’s first in the growing DAC space and marks a key milestone in an ongoing partnership between 8 Rivers and JX. In 2021, the two companies signed a Comprehensive Collaboration Agreement to identify and develop unique opportunities in the carbon capture market. Following this investment and the successful deployment of Calcite at Project Cardinal, JX will look to deploy Calcite in projects across the Asia Pacific region.
“This investment comes at an important time for our company and the industry and validates our Calcite DAC platform as a leading solution for the global energy transition,” said Christopher Richardson, CEO of 8 Rivers. “We are excited to strengthen our partnership with JX and collaborate with their team on Project Cardinal and future Calcite deployments across the Asia-Pacific. JX is an established industry innovator working to lead the effort to decarbonize the industry at scale—we could not be more excited to deepen our partnership with them.”
Tetsuo Yamada, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, commented “We are proud to collaborate with 8 Rivers, a leader in technological advancements and a strong advocate for the global energy transition, through this investment. This is another milestone in our collaborative partnership between 8 Rivers and JX. DAC is one of the key solutions for a carbon neutral society. We are confident in the potential of 8 Rivers' DAC solution, 'Calcite,' and look forward to its first commercial deployment through Project Cardinal.”
Today’s investment comes just over a year after Calcite was announced as a winner of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub grant. 8 Rivers invented Calcite in 2019 and advanced the technology with initial funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy FLECCS program, initial carbon removal pre-purchases from the Frontier Fund, and a $1M prize award from XPRIZE for Carbon Removal. Recently, Calcite was also selected as semifinalist in the DOE’s DAC Commercial CDR Purchase Pilot Prize.
The International Energy Authority’s Net Zero by 2050 Scenario report highlights the necessity of DAC deployments to meet global emissions-reduction goals. DAC technologies are projected to capture more than 85 million tonnes of CO2 in 2030 and approximately 980 million tonnes of CO2 in 2050. Public and private investment into emerging DAC platforms is necessary to achieve rapid, global buildout of these technologies. This investment and continued partnership between JX and 8 Rivers will support large-scale demonstration and commercialization of Calcite and forge a viable path to net zero for hard-to-abate industries.
