CarbonFree Appoints Jody Black as Chief Operating Officer

San Antonio, TX – June 10, 2024– CarbonFree, a leader in carbon capture and utilization technology, today announced the appointment of Jody Black as Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Black’s expertise in the chemicals and carbon capture industries will help the company scale by driving operational excellence, enhancing strategic leadership and unlocking new revenue streams within the specialty chemicals market.

Black has more than 25 years of project management experience at leading companies in the chemicals and petrochemicals space. He held positions as Chief Executive Officer at FQE Chemicals and Executive Vice President and Head of Business Units at Linde Engineering, where he was directly responsible for reduced operating costs and increasing year-over-year revenue growth. Prior to this, he was Program Director at Alstom Power, where he was responsible for the construction of the first CO2 sequestration plants in North America and Europe.

As Chief Operating Officer at CarbonFree, Black will oversee the streamlining of production processes for safe operation to optimize resource allocation, improve quality control measures, identify market opportunities and foster collaboration with key stakeholders. 

“Jody’s track record in the chemicals and carbon capture industry makes him an invaluable addition to our executive team, rounding out a robust group of innovators dedicated to a greener future,” said Martin Keighley, CEO of CarbonFree. “Operational excellence is critical to the success and profitability of carbon capture business models, and Jody’s background and commitment to safety, efficiency, and collaboration further empowers us to lead the charge in revolutionizing how hard-to-abate industrial plants can manage their carbon emissions.”

CarbonFree is committed to decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries and global supply chains through innovative carbon capture utilization technology, converting emissions into specialty-grade, carbon-neutral calcium carbonate, which is used to manufacture an array of everyday products like paper and paint. Black’s appointment will be critical for ensuring the seamless development and successful operation of CarbonFree’s first plant with U. S. Steel, which will capture and mineralize 50,000 metric tons of carbon emissions equivalent to nearly 12,000 passenger vehicles per year.   

“As carbon capture technologies emerge as a new way to decarbonize heavy industries, we must also chart a sustainable path forward for captured emissions,” said Jody Black, Chief Operating Officer at CarbonFree. “Converting emissions into valuable chemicals not only permanently sequesters the harmful CO2, but also presents the chemicals markets with the first ever zero-carbon mineral product. I look forward to leveraging my experience in operations and project management to support the company’s goal of decarbonizing global supply chains and addressing the challenges of hard-to-abate industries.”

For more information, visit https://carbonfree.cc/

About CarbonFree

CarbonFree is a carbon capture company committed to the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries and global supply chains. Its SkyCycle technology captures carbon dioxide produced from industrial plants before entering the atmosphere then converts the emissions into chemicals that are pivotal to the specialty chemicals market. CarbonFree’s first-generation technology, SkyMine, has been operational since 2016 and is one of the world’s first and largest industrial-scale carbon mineralization facilities, operating alongside a cement factory in San Antonio. CarbonFree is a member of Carbon Capture Coalition (CCC), Decarb Connect, and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and was part of the first Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative cohort. 

Media Contacts

CarbonFree Media Relations

Email: carbonfree@berlinrosen.com

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CarbonFree Named One of 10 Most Promising Companies at Nationally-Recognized Rice University Energy Tech Venture Forum

Investors Select CarbonFree and its Innovative SkyCycleTM Technology Among 110 Companies

We are delighted to be on the top 10 list, which underlines the urgency of bringing low cost, secure and scalable CCUS technologies like SkyCycle™ to market. From the fires in the west to the hurricanes in the east and weather extremes all around, we know that more and more global leaders are looking for answers. I’m proud of the company that we’ve created and thrilled about the potential for CarbonFree to be a part of the solution.

Martin Keighley, CEO of CarbonFree

At the 18th Annual Energy Tech Venture Forum, CarbonFree was selected for special recognition among the 110 companies pitching via investor votes from the more than 90 major venture capital firms present. The forum, hosted by Rice University’s nationally-recognized Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, provides an opportunity for business leaders to learn about the latest emerging technologies, discover investment opportunities and network with entrepreneurs, researchers, investment professionals and business executives all across the energy industry. The 2020 event was the largest forum in the event’s 18-year history with more than 110 energy ventures—which have raised over $655 million combined— participating.

With an audience of 1,500 virtual attendees, CarbonFree introduced SkyCycle™, a patented industrial-chemical mineralization technology that captures carbon emissions on a megaton scale to make usable or safely storable products. CarbonFree plans to raise $10 million to develop SkyCycle™ and build the first commercial carbon capture plant within two years,. SkyCycle™ follows CarbonFree’s development of the world’s first industrial-scale carbon mineralization facility, SkyMine®, which produces baking soda from cement plant flue gas.  SkyCycle™ is already backed by energy-savvy investors including Fortistar, Braemar Energy Ventures, BP Ventures, Husky Partners, Berg & Berg and Apollo Investments.

Mark Comora, President of Fortistar said, “We’re proud of CarbonFree’s rapid progress towards making its carbon capture process an industrial and commercial reality. Our investment in CarbonFree was driven by Fortistar’s mission to lead investments in lasting solutions to challenging problems and we’re delighted to do our part to bring CarbonFree’s paradigm-shifting technologies to the global market.”

Throughout the 3-day event, more than 93 investment groups participated in the forum or took office hours. The event kicked off with a keynote from Maynard Holt, CEO of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. and closed with a special announcement on the launch of the new Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator. A recording of the event is available on the Energy Tech Venture Forum website.

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