CarbonQuest takes its technology to NYC

CarbonQuest Inc., a clean-tech company headquartered in the Spokane Valley, has launched its first-fully operational onsite system, named Building Carbon Capture System, in New York City.

The company’s technology is designed to capture, separate, liquefy, and store carbon dioxide emissions from large buildings, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere. CarbonQuest has a patent pending for the system.

The system is located in the basement of the Grand Tier, a 375,000-square-foot multifamily building owned by Glenwood Management in Manhattan.

Shane Johnson, CEO of CarbonQuest, said the system is estimated to eliminate about 25% of the building’s total carbon dioxide emissions with zero interruption to tenants.

Glenwood Senior Vice President Josh London said in a news release the system is a key element to the company’s path toward sustainability.

The system can capture building emissions stemming from natural gas usage, which Johnson said contributes to half of CO2 carbon emissions from buildings.

CarbonQuest currently employs 12 people in its Spokane Valley headquarters located in building N-15 in the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, at 3808 N. Sullivan Road. The company also has satellite offices in Seattle and New York.

Johnson said the company will double its staff this year and hopes to grow to provide more than 100 well-paying jobs as demand grows within the decarbonizing movement.

With the infusion of new funds, CarbonQuest plans to expand its Valley office and lab space to 35,000 to 50,000 square feet from its current 5,000 square feet, he said.

Anna Pavlova, CarbonQuest’s vice president of strategy and development, said the company’s revenue is trending positive, but its profitability will depend on how quickly it can scale its operations, a time frame she declined to speculate about.

The company was founded in 2019 by a group of environmental technology entrepreneurs that had been involved with several startups.

Many of CarbonQuest’s main players had been behind Demand Energy Inc., a Liberty Lake-based energy storage company that also had landed contracts with Glenwood Management, which owns several luxury apartment buildings and is working to reduce its carbon footprints.

Dave Curry, who co-founded the energy storage company, is chairman of CarbonQuest.

Demand Energy was acquired by Enel S.p.A., an Italian gas and electricity distributor, in 2017.

Johnson said that when New York City adopted its landmark building decarbonization law in 2019, Glenwood came to him and his team with the challenge and opportunity to create a new technology that could meet the city’s climate change initiatives.

“Buildings represent a base part of carbon emissions,” Johnson said. “In most cities, buildings represent 60% to 80% of total city emissions.”

According to a report by the United Nations, cities consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of greenhouse emissions.

In London, Tokyo, and New York, emissions from buildings accounted for 76%, 71%, and 67%, respectively, of total city emissions, according to a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries.

“It’s a challenge that every city in the world is facing,” Johnson said. “What started in NYC has inspired many cities across the country to develop their own programs and initiatives.”

CarbonQuest entered the market with goals to work within a circular economic model in which it will sell recycled and liquified carbon dioxide to be used for the production of several materials, including synthetic diamonds, fiber, and composites.

Pavlova said that according to a report from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the circular economic market is predicted to reach $1.5 trillion in scope by 2035.