Mantra granted Canadian patent for CO2 recycling process
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Mantra's electro-reduction of carbon dioxide process converts carbon dioxide into chemicals, fuels
VANCOUVER—Cleantech incubator Mantra Venture Group Ltd. said it has been granted a Canadian patent for its subsidiary’s carbon capture and utilization (CCU) process that converts carbon dioxide into chemicals and fuels.
According to Vancouver-based Mantra, its Mantra Energy Alternatives Ltd. subsidiary has been granted the patent “Continuous Co-Current Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide,” which covers its electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC) process.
Similar patents have been granted in China, Australia, and India, according to Mantra.
“The timing of this news could not be better, as we are preparing to launch our pilot unit in Canada in the coming months,” Mantra chief executive Larry Kristof said in a statement. “This granted patent will serve as the basis for a great deal of additional intellectual property generated from the pilot.”
Mantra’s pilot plant, which converts carbon dioxide to formate salts and formic acid, will be operating at the Lafarge Canada Inc. cement plant in Richmond, B.C., early next year.
When operational, it will be the world’s first demonstration of ERC in an industrial setting.
“This patent, like the others already granted, is quite comprehensive,” said Patrick Dodd, Mantra’s vice-president of corporate development. “It broadly covers the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide, which is being increasingly recognized as a critical future technology.”
