The answer is yes—if it’s pure enough. On this basis, ESTECH has recently established a collaboration with Naturfrisk Group, who will purchase some of the CO2 captured at ESTECH’s facility at VandCenter Syd in Odense. A facility that captures CO2 from flue gas, which is then purified to food-grade quality, making it suitable for use in the food industry.
ESTECH’s technology, CAPPOW (a combination of Carbon Capture and Power-to-X), captures CO2 and produces hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis in a single process. A technology that has potential to play an important role in the green transition.
“Why not start by using some of the CO2 we remove from flue gas emissions at our facility for something useful?” thought Søren Gert Larsen, CEO, before contacting Naturfrisk Group – an organic beverage manufacturer at Ørbæk Brewery.
The captured CO2 will be at least 99% pure, meaning it can be compressed into tanks and directly used for carbonated drinks like beer, cider, and soft drinks. Additionally, the CO2 can be converted into green fuel or compressed and stored underground. The produced hydrogen can either be used directly for green fuel or converted into electricity or heat.
Naturfrisk produces among other things organic soft drinks, and the captured CO2 will specifically be used for carbonation in these drinks. According to Andreas Falkenberg, Production Manager at Naturfrisk Group, the story behind ESTECH’s circular CO2 capture process fits perfectly with their mission of creating beverages in harmony with nature.
“It was an easy decision to enter into this collaboration because the way ESTECH wants to reuse CO2 aligns perfectly with our organic values, which are centred on protecting nature and the environment and creating products from the best raw materials.”
The food industry has specific requirements for the quality and purity of food-grade gases. CO2 from ESTECH’s CAPPOW facility fully complies with Danish and European standards, which require a purity of at least 99%.
Naturfrisk Group is a family-owned brewery and distillery that has been producing organic beverages under the Naturfrisk brand since 1997 at the old Ørbæk Brewery. Besides Naturfrisk, the group also includes the brands Ørbæk Brewery (internationally recognized for organic beers since 2001), Macarn (organic mixers for cocktails and drinks since 2019), and Nyborg Distillery (organic spirits since 2009, originally at Ørbæk Brewery but relocated to Nyborg in 2017). Learn more at www.naturfriskgroup.com
On September 18, 2024, ESTECH’s full-scale demonstration facility will be officially inaugurated. The main objective of the facility is to demonstrate the technology’s scalability and test its industrial potential. The technology’s development began in 2019 under the name CAPPOW, a contraction of the words Carbon Capture and Power-to-X, which combines CO2 capture and hydrogen production via electrolysis in a single process. Now, the facility is complete, and the testing phase has begun.
Data will be collected throughout the year, and the results will be continuously analyzed and evaluated so that potential customers can confidently invest in a facility tailored to their needs and that is as energy- and cost-efficient as possible.
On the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale—a method of estimating the maturity of new technologies on a scale from 1 to 9, with 9 indicating a proven and competitive technology ready for production—the CAPPOW technology currently stands at 7.5. Learn more at www.estech.dk/technology
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