How would you explain Alithic’s mission to someone outside the sector?
Our mission is to extend the window and give us more time to tackle climate change. It stems from the question: ‘What must be done to limit global warming to around 2°C?’ At the current rate of emissions, we will have exhausted in about 20 years, the carbon budget for 2 degree warming. That is estimated at around 1000 Gt CO2. We’re focusing on removing CO2 from the air to ensure we stay within safe boundaries.
“Creating carbon removals to offset hard-to-abate industries like aviation, steel, and cement, while also removing historical emissions from our atmosphere.”
How would you explain your unique process to someone who is new to carbon removal?
“We remove CO2 directly from the air and permanently store it in a rock-like material that can replace cement.”
Cement is the highest value component of concrete and responsible for nearly all concrete’s emissions. So we’re not just removing CO2 from the air, but also avoiding emissions from cement manufacturing with our supplementary cementitious material (SCM).
Please tell us what brought you to Alithic in the first place?
“Three factors convinced me of Alithic’s potential to scale.”
When I was introduced to University of Wisconsin professors Rob Anex and Bu Wang, inventors of the Alithic process, I was struck by the very high energy efficiency of the process, which addresses a core issue in the carbon removal industry. It also produces high-integrity carbon removal credits, which is key. And on top of that, having a valuable byproduct (our SCM) allows us to generate revenue and be commercially viable.
What is the next stage for Alithic?
Operationally, we have partners in place to build our first plant in 2026. We’ve also successfully tested our SCM, demonstrating its suitability for use in concrete by meeting the American ASTM C618 certification.
Our next stage is collaborating with commercial partners to showcase our SCM’s value proposition,
“producing it in quantities for real-world testing to pave the way for scaling our process.”
What are the key challenges for the carbon removal sector to scale?
Relying on an uncertain voluntary market makes it difficult to guarantee revenue and can deter investors.
“Alithic’s process avoids this uncertainty by generating a commercial income from our byproduct.”
Another challenge is ensuring high-integrity carbon removal credits. Alithic uses an engineered carbon removal process that allows precise measurement of CO2 removed and stored.
Have there been any personal highlights whilst on the Alithic journey?
Every stamp of confidence we gain from investors, the professors at University, the University of Wisconsin itself, or commercial partners, is a highlight. However, a real stand out moment was when our CTO resigned from his job and joined us on a full-time basis.
Others have accepted too, but having our CTO was the first time we became a team.
“It’s a real and amazing endorsement when people believe in what you do and are happy to follow”
Editor note: Hamp Thornton joins Alithic from Caithness Energy. He is an experienced project engineer in the energy sector, with over 20 years track record of developing and commissioning utility projects.