Limenet, first industrial plant for start-up that stores CO2 in the sea

A year and a half after its establishment, Limenet, an Italian start-up that has patented a technology capable of storing CO2 in seawater by transforming it into calcium bicarbonates, has inaugurated its first industrial plant in Augusta (Syracuse). Measuring 100 times larger than the pilot plant built by Limenet at the beginning of 2023 in La Spezia, it will allow the treatment of 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The company founded by Giovanni Cappello, Stefano Cappello and Enrico Noseda also received a positive verification opinion from the certification body Rina in 2024, obtaining ISO 14064-2 certification of its CO2 removal methodology. "This recognition is a key step towards increasing transparency and credibility in the market on CO2 removal technology processes. To date, very few companies in the carbon removal industry in the world have achieved this certification,' reads a company note.

The presentation of the plant and the obtaining of the certification come after the signing of the first commercial agreement with KlimaDAO, a platform active in the voluntary carbon credit market. The latter purchased one thousand high-quality carbon credits equivalent to the removal of one thousand tonnes of CO2.

After raising more than EUR 2 million so far through a participatory financial vehicle (SFP) that has seen companies such as Aither, Core Angels Climate, Moonstone, Forest Valley Catalyst, Faros (an accelerator in the national network promoted by CDP Venture Capital) and Leone La Ferla enter the capital, the company has announced a EUR 5 million capital increase. The funds to be raised will be used to finance the company's development and growth in the carbon removal market.

The goal between now and the end of 2025 is to build a plant that will integrate with the Augusta plant and bring to fruition the objective of Limenet's patented technology, which, in addition to storage, will also capture and remove CO2 in the atmosphere, with the consequent benefits for the marine ecosystem and the deacidification of water.

"After years of research and experiments we are honoured, and I must say also very excited, to be able to present our first industrial plant in Augusta. This result marks a significant step in the development of our technology and the growth of the company," commented Limenet's founder and CEO Stefano Cappello. "In the last 12 months we have grown a lot, and very quickly, we have sold the first CO2 credits equivalent to one thousand tonnes of negative emissions thanks to the agreement with KlimaDAO, and we have concluded an acceleration process at Faros, the blue economy accelerator of the CDP Venture Capital network, which has supported us in our growth path. In addition, thanks to the collaboration with the Port Authority of the Eastern Sicily Sea, we launched the first project in Italy, and among the first in the world, to remove carbon in the sea using calcium bicarbonates, thus being able to start playing our part in the great game of decarbonisation. We are now ready for the second phase of growth and a new capital increase that will allow us to raise the necessary funds to support the company's growth.