OXCCU envisions a circular economy for carbon-based fuels
By capturing atmospheric CO2 and combining it with hydrogen, the company is producing e-fuels, chemicals, and plastics.
A recent Guardian study revealed that climate scientists are growing increasingly pessimistic about the world's ability to limit global warming.
77% of respondents believe global temperatures will reach at least 2.5C above preindustrial levels, with over 40% believing temperatures will exceed 3.0C – a scenario that some respondents describe as “near dystopian.”
As a result, the search for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels has become more urgent than ever.
However, while true zero solutions like renewable energy and hydrogen offer hope, Andrew Symes, CEO of OXCCU, a company spun out of Oxford University, told an audience at London’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Supply Chain Initiative earlier this month that carbon-based fuels will remain essential in many areas of the economy. This includes chemicals, plastics, and long-distance transportation fuels.
In the aviation industry, hydrogen and electric flights are in their infancy, and there are questions about their ability to disrupt anything other than short-haul flights. Biofuels derived from agricultural waste or fuel crops may help bridge the short- to medium-term gap. Still, Symes cautioned that they have limitations regarding land use and feedstock availability.
OXCCU’s Circular Proposition
OXCCU's solution lies in creating a circular economy around CO2-based fuels.
By capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and combining it with hydrogen, the company is pioneering the production of e-fuels, chemicals, and plastics.
Of course, OXCCU isn’t alone. Many e-fuel startups intend to use CO2 as a feedstock.
Here, Symes believes that one of the company’s points of differentiation is using a proprietary catalyst that completes the process in one step, making it more energy-efficient and cost-effective than the traditional multi-step Fischer-Tropsch method, the almost 100-year-old way of making synthetic fuels.
This makes OXCCU similar to Air Company, which we featured in our book Sustainability in the Air. Like OXCCU, Air Company has developed a single-step process, which it says is less energy-intensive and expensive than Fischer-Tropsch.
Though Symes admitted that his solution is "not completely circular," it still has the potential to significantly lower fossil fuel demand. Power-to-liquid fuel companies typically claim a carbon lifecycle reduction of up to 90%.
This potential has caught the eyes of high-profile investors such as Aramco Ventures, Eni Next (the corporate venture arm of Italian energy company Eni), United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, and Braavos Capital. In 2023, OXCCU raised over $20 million and is seeking an additional $25 million to build a plant in the UK.
Future promises
Beyond e-fuels, OXCCU is also tackling plastic waste by developing a novel process to make polyglycolic acid (PGA), a fully biodegradable plastic, from CO2 instead of fossil fuels. This focus on products derived from CO2 places OXCCU among a growing number of "carbon to value" companies. In addition to Air Company, this also includes Twelve and Canada's Anodyne.
Looking to the future, Symes plans to license OXCCU's technology globally while also demonstrating its effectiveness through demonstration plants.
This year, the company is delivering a demo plant at Oxford Airport, with plans to quickly move to a "first of a kind" plant producing 160 kilos (200 litres) per day in a single step using CO2 and hydrogen. Series B funding will then allow OXCCU to establish a commercial plant by 2028.