{"id":172932,"date":"2026-02-05T07:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T06:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=172932"},"modified":"2026-02-04T10:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:59:13","slug":"forget-burying-unwanted-carbon-this-washington-startup-is-turning-it-into-protein-fuel-and-a-frost-deicer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/forget-burying-unwanted-carbon-this-washington-startup-is-turning-it-into-protein-fuel-and-a-frost-deicer\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget burying unwanted carbon \u2014 this Washington startup is turning it into protein, fuel and a frost deicer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ocochem.com\/\">OCOchem<\/a>, a clean tech startup turning carbon dioxide into industrial chemicals, has raised $2.15 million and continues signing new partnerships \u2014 despite a cooling regulatory environment for sustainability and a decline in climate tech investing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"718\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-1024x718.jpg\" alt=\"Employees at OCOchem who helped produce the world\u2019s first carbon dioxide-derived metric ton of potassium formate at the startup\u2019s Richland, Wash., facility. It was shipped to an OCOchem customer in October. (OCOchem Photo)\" class=\"wp-image-172934\" style=\"width:650px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-1024x718.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-150x105.jpg 150w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-768x539.jpg 768w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-1536x1077.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1-385x270.jpg 385w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/OCOchem-team-2048x1436-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Employees at OCOchem who helped produce the world\u2019s first carbon dioxide-derived metric ton of potassium formate at the startup\u2019s Richland, Wash., facility. It was shipped to an OCOchem customer in October. (OCOchem Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: revert; white-space: normal;\">The Richland, Wash., company\u2019s technology takes water and captured industrial carbon dioxide and runs it through proprietary electrolyzer cells to produce formic acid and formate compounds. This family of chemicals can be converted into clean-burning hydrogen fuel, serve as ingredients for other valuable chemicals, or be used as a relatively safe acid in critical mineral recovery.<\/span><div class=\"entry-content\" style=\"white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box;\"><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">The startup is making progress thanks to the abundance of its feedstock and the versatility of formate, said CEO and co-founder\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/todd-brix-518693\">Todd Brix<\/a>. As OCOchem scales up operations, \u201cwe\u2019re opening up new vistas\u201d as customers discover the company\u2019s sustainable, affordable solutions for producing chemicals and clean fuels.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">With the new funding, the company has now raised $11.2 million from investors and $8.3 million in government grants.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">Initiatives underway include:\u00a0<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"padding-left: 2rem; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\"><li style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5rem;\">An\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/ocochem.com\/ocochem-and-bfab-announce-partnership-to-scale-biochemical-production\/\">agreement announced<\/a>\u00a0in December with the German company b.fab, which feeds formate to microorganisms such as bacteria that biosynthesize proteins, amino acids and other commercially useful compounds.\u00a0<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5rem;\">A\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/ocochem.com\/ocochem-and-adm-partner-to-build-innovative-new-co2-conversion-facility\/\">partnership with ADM<\/a>\u00a0(Archer-Daniels-Midland) to build a commercial pilot plant at the chemical giant\u2019s Illinois facility, where ADM operates the world\u2019s largest bioethanol refinery. The refinery produces carbon dioxide as a bioproduct of the fermentation process, which will be turned into formate and used in other product lines.<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.5rem;\">Fine-tuning processes at its 40,000-square-foot facility in Richland that was commissioned in May. The plant\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/ocochem.com\/ocochem-announces-first-product-shipment\/\">produced and shipped<\/a>\u00a0a metric ton of a formate compound for use as a deicing agent by a New York-based customer.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">While the Trump administration has rolled back many climate and environmental policies, one recent change helped level the playing field for carbon reuse efforts like OCOchem\u2019s.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">The One Big Beautiful Bill Act retained the tax credit for carbon capture and\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jw.com\/news\/insights-clean-energy-tax-credit-obbba\/#:~:text=Carbon%20Sequestration%20The%20credit%20for%20the%20sequestration,%2460%20per%20ton%20credit%20for%20such%20uses.\">increased the credit<\/a>\u00a0for processes that reuse carbon in industrial applications, raising it from $60 per ton to $85 \u2014 matching the credit provided when carbon is permanently sequestered.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">Brix launched OCOchem in 2017 after a nearly two-decade career at Microsoft. The 17-person team includes Chief Technologist\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/arun-agarwal-33333a7\/\">Arun Agarwal<\/a>, who previously spent 12 years in R&amp;D focused on renewable chemicals, energy, oil and gas.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">The company faces competition in turning carbon dioxide into formate \u2014 particularly in the\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101177459\">European Union<\/a>, which is publicly investing in the technology, as well as at labs operated by\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(190, 72, 37); text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d42473-021-00577-7\">Toyota<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">But Brix said he\u2019s ready to face his rivals. His company has \u201cbuilt the largest CO2 electrolyzer, worked fast to do that, and is operating at the highest performance today,\u201d Brix said. \u201cAnd so it\u2019s a little bit of a race, but it\u2019s a good race.\u201d<\/p><\/div><footer data-nosnippet=\"\" style=\"white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box;\"><div id=\"author-tagline\" class=\"d-flex d-none d-sm-flex\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5rem 0px; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; display: flex !important;\"><\/div><\/footer><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OCOchem, a clean tech startup turning carbon dioxide into industrial chemicals, has raised $2.15 million and continues signing new partnerships \u2014 despite a cooling regulatory environment for sustainability and a decline in climate tech investing. The Richland, Wash., company\u2019s technology takes water and captured industrial carbon dioxide and runs it through proprietary electrolyzer cells to [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":172934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The Richland, Wash., company\u2019s technology takes water and captured industrial carbon dioxide and runs it through proprietary electrolyzer cells to produce formic acid and formate compounds","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[10744,10416,12455,14144,21182,10743],"supplier":[196,5585,23212,238],"class_list":["post-172932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-carboncapture","tag-circulareconomy","tag-compounds","tag-electrolysis","tag-formicacid","tag-useco2","supplier-archer-daniels-midland-company-adm","supplier-european-union","supplier-ocochem","supplier-toyota"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172932"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=172932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}