Our first investment – Promethean Particles

Earth9 are proud to announce our first investment – Promethean Particles.

When we use the words ‘Join Us’, we really mean that. It’s in our DNA. We are forward buying carbon removal, tree planting and plastic from the ocean but the fourth pillar for us is the investment and therefore support of new climatech solutions that will have a large impact in the mid to long term. We’re very proud today to announce that first investment, which is in Promethean Particles.

Promethean Particles is a nanomaterials and carbon capture spin-out from the University of Nottingham.

The Promethean team have developed the leading continuous flow manufacturing process for producing high-value nanomaterials at scale. This includes a class of versatile nanomaterials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are demonstrating a great deal of promise for large-scale carbon capture. MOFs have incredibly high internal surface areas (up to 7,000 metres squared per gram) which, along with other critical properties, can selectively capture target gas molecules such as carbon dioxide.

On the current trajectory, global warming is predicted to reach 2.7°C by 2100. Hitting the 1.5°C target established in the 2015 Paris Agreement will require a 45% reduction in annual global emissions by 2030. However, even with all the current climate pledges and commitments, global emissions are set to increase significantly over this period.
 
Hitting, or even getting close to this target without carbon capture is now virtually impossible. Bringing down the cost of carbon capture (both point-source and Direct Air Capture) is essential. Promethean Particles are well-placed to do this with ongoing trials with Drax Power and other large industrial partners.

The investment was made via our partnership with TSP Ventures.