Capture6, a water-positive carbon removal company, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with K-water and BKT to contribute to the development of a pilot desalination facility in South Korea.
K-Water, a state-owned water utility in South Korea, is constructing the largest desalination facility in the country to supply water to heavy industries in the Daesan Industrial Complex nearby, which accounts for a full 40% of South Korea's petrochemical production. The region has been suffering from water scarcity due to severe droughts and reliance on external water resources.
The partners agreed to use K-water’s desalination facility and technologies of Capture6 and BKT to capture CO2, recover freshwater, minimize brine discharge, and extract green chemicals.
The facility is surrounded by industrial plants producing large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions (17MtCO2e/year). This represents an opportunity for Capture6 to deploy its direct air capture (DAC) technology as well as point-source capture (CCS) to further decarbonize the region.
The planned facility, which includes Capture6’s Project Octopus, will be the world’s first fully integrated water management and carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal facility using a seawater desalination plant. Project Octopus is a two-phase project with the ultimate ambition to develop a large-scale commercial facility removing up to 500,000 tons of CO2 per year, becoming the largest DAC + CCS + water recovery facility in Asia.
"This collaboration is a major step forward for Capture6. By pioneering water integrated water management and CO₂ removal facility, this project will significantly contribute to the region's sustainable future,” said Dr. Ethan Cohen-Cole, CEO and co-founder of Capture6.
Capture6 uses saltwater to create its carbon removal solvent. By partnering with water treatment facilities like the one K-water is building, Capture6’s technology can provide carbon removal while increasing the facility’s freshwater yields.
Capture6’s system will reduce the environmental harms associated with disposing of excess brine into the ocean, a concern expressed by multiple local groups in the country. The company’s process will also generate green chemicals to further decarbonize K-water’s water management operations and heavy industries such as steelmaking.
Capture6 and South Korean water treatment company BKT signed a strategic cooperation earlier this year. BKT was established in South Korea in 1995 and has subsidiaries in the United States. BKT offers a range of solutions integrating biological wastewater treatment and membrane filtration technologies.
Capture6 is a water-positive carbon removal company based in California and New Zealand leveraging its technology to support climate resilience and industrial decarbonization. The company solutions help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
