ERC Development

Experimentation on the electroreduction of carbon dioxide has been carried out in several laboratories over many years, but in circumstances not appropriate for industrial application. The recent focus on carbon dioxide and climate change has motivated work at the University of British Columbia to develop a continuous reactor with the potential to be the basis of a commercially viable process for ERC, as described in the PCT Patent Application WO2007/041872 “Continuous co-current electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide”. Mantra Energy Alternatives has now acquired this intellectual property with the prospect of developing a commercial ERC process that will help the worldwide efforts to lower carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate global warming.

In May, 2008 in collaboration with Kemetco Research Inc., a private sector integrated science, technology and innovation company, Mantra established a research and development facility for the ERC in Vancouver, British Columbia, staffed by a dedicated research team. To date Mantra has financed and commenced a development program that will see the construction of a scaled down industrial grade ERC test reactor by September, 2008, to be followed by 6 to 12 months of testing to prepare the ERC for pilot scale (1 ton of CO2 per day) commercial trials. We are also establishing relationships with major industrial partners to pair the ERC with complimentary technologies and applications. Within a 4 to 5 year period, we expect to progress from pilot scale trials to the implementation of full scale commercial ERC reactors capable of processing 100 tons of CO2 per day.