Brineworks raises €6.8 million for DAC technology

Brineworks has also been awarded a €1.8 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, the EU's flagship programme for breakthrough innovations, to further advance R&D and pilot deployment.

At the heart of Brineworks' breakthrough is a patented electrolyser that drives ultra low-cost Direct Air Capture (DAC) while co-producing significant amounts of hydrogen (H₂). Together, these two outputs provide the critical building blocks for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and e-methanol for shipping – industries urgently in need of scalable, carbon-neutral alternatives. Aviation alone accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions – and demand is still rising – while shipping contributes over 3%.

"It is clear where the world is heading," said Gudfinnur Sveinsson, CEO of Brineworks. "Renewable energy is becoming cheaper faster than anyone predicted. The bottleneck now is technology that can use this power flexibly and affordably. That is exactly what we have built – an electrolyser that runs when the sun shines or the wind blows, and pauses when it does not. We are unlocking a dream that has been out of reach for decades."

Unlike conventional systems, Brineworks' electrolyser is designed for intermittent operation, enabling it to follow renewable power availability without degrading performance. This capability solves a long-standing technical challenge: how to make DAC work reliably with low-cost materials in a renewable-powered grid.

"We envisioned the electrolyser of the future – and now it is here," said Dr Joseph Perryman, Co-Founder and CTO of Brineworks. "With many long nights of work, we have proven a clear path to capturing CO₂ directly from air at below US$100/t. That is the threshold the world has been waiting for, and now the scale-up begins."

Since its founding in late 2023, Brineworks has advanced rapidly from concept to prototype validation. The new funding will be used to scale the system to pilot level, targeting commercial readiness by the end of 2026. If Brineworks hits its targets, airlines could be flying on carbon-neutral fuels before the decade is out.

"At SeaX, we are always looking for visionary founders solving massive problems with science-backed solutions, and Brineworks is exactly that," said Dr Kid Parchariyanon, Founder and Managing Partner at SeaX Ventures. "Their team is rethinking how we tackle carbon removal and clean fuel from the ground up, with an approach that is as ambitious as it is necessary. This investment marks an inflection point for Brineworks, and we believe they have the potential to meaningfully reduce global emissions. Supporting them aligns directly with our goal of helping to cut 1% of the world's carbon footprint – we are proud to be part of their journey."

By coupling Brineworks' DAC system with e-fuel synthesis technologies, any nation can now produce its own fuels, provided it scales renewable capacity. This opens the door to energy independence, emissions reduction, and localised fuel production – a decentralised model for the global energy transition.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/22092025/brineworks-raises-68-million-for-dac-technology/