Carbon Plants
MCi Carbon has developed and constructed three generations of Carbon Plants, including the Global Reference Pilot Plant located in Newcastle, Australia. This plant, which was publicly launched by the NSW Minister for Energy and Resources in July 2017, is the one of the first purpose-built pilot plants for mineral carbonation beyond the laboratory scale in the world.
It operates continuously to support pilot studies and materials programs that provide the engineering and scientific data needed to advance demonstration-scale Carbon Plants with customers and partners around the globe.
Our Roadmap
Our Mission
To lock away a billion tonnes of CO2 by 2040
It typically takes 20 or more years to bring technology from the laboratory to an industrial scale. MCi Carbon has been working towards this goal for the past 15 years. Decarbonization at a large scale requires more than just science - it requires investment, new business models, customer validation, policy support from government, collaboration with industry and research, and a strong social license.
The MCi team is multi-disciplinary, with expertise in fields such as research, chemical engineering, material science, policy, business, communications, and management. The Board, management and team are dedicated to the collective mission to decarbonize global industries and have consistently applied an innovation approach to our research programs, designs, engineering methods, and customer studies to progress our technology development through the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL).
MCi is now funded to advance beyond demonstration scale towards industrial adoption on a global scale.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Backed by technoeconomic studies and a suite of patents
MCi has been developing its technology platform through industrial-led research and under the protection of research and commercial secrecy, allow the team to gain extensive knowledge in the emerging field of carbon capture and utilization (CCU). This research has involved testing and exploring numerous novel process routes that are now incorporated into a unique carbon platform.
All processes are supported by lifecycle analysis, carbon lifecycle assessments, and industry economic models. Research and development has been conducted under observation and peer review of governments, customers, and investors. MCi holds several key patents worldwide, but in order to maintain intellectual property advantage, much of the technology stack is kept commercially secret and is not publicly disclosed or published.
Scaling Up
Accelerating towards commercialization
MCi recently achieved a major milestone when it was awarded a grant from the Australian Government in June 2021 to construct its first industrial-scale demonstration Carbon Plant in Newcastle, Australia.
Dubbed "Australia's CCU Flagship," this plant is expected to break ground in Q1-2023.
In collaboration with global customers, MCi have been conducting techno-economic studies, pilot programs, and developing demonstration projects. At industrial scale, the MCi Carbon Plants have the potential to process over one million tonnes of carbon dioxide per plant per year, permanently removing emissions and operating profitably.
Leading the field in CCU
Different to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Mineral Carbonation has become a significant area of research and development due to its potential to safely and permanently remove large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. It is classified as a carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology.
One common question posed to MCi is whether mineral carbonation is economically viable at scale. In 2021, the CO2 Utilisation Roadmap, an independent techno-economic study conducted by Australia's national science agency CSIRO, found that MCi's mineral carbonation technology can profitably remove emissions at scale.
MCi's work and technology differ from those being developed in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The CCU field is starting to receive substantial funding from national governments in countries such as the US, UK, EU, Canada, Singapore, Finland, Holland, South Africa, and China.
