C-Zero

C-Zero has developed a proprietary technology called methane pyrolysis that converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon (also known as turquoise hydrogen). The hydrogen generated is used for low-cost energy generation while carbon is permanently sequestered. As per the company, its technology avoids gray hydrogen’s emissions and blue hydrogen’s technical and cost challenges in capturing emissions as a gas. C-Zero believes that it can offer hydrogen at around USD 1.5 per kilogram (kg) compared to USD 4 per kg and up for green hydrogen obtained via electrolysis.

Funding and financials

The company’s most recent funding round was in June 2022, when it raised USD 34 million in a funding round led by SK Gas. The funds were assigned to build C-Zero’s first pilot plant, which will be capable of producing up to 400kg of hydrogen per day from natural gas with zero CO2 emissions, and expected to be commissioned by Q1 2024. In February 2021, C-Zero raised USD 11.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Eni Next, to commercialize its technology.

Key customers and partnerships

In February 2023, C-Zero agreed an MoU with Drax, a renewable power generator in the UK and operator of Europe’s largest decarbonisation project. The MoU relates to the sale of carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) from Drax’s first bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) facility in the US, where C-Zero will acquire 2,000 tonnes of CDRs for USD 300 per tonne.