Dive Brief:
- AtmosZero secured $21 million in series A funding to accelerate the commercialization of its electric boiler systems, according to a Tuesday press release.
- The company says its proprietary boiler technology extracts heat from the air to deliver high-temperature, zero-carbon steam that industrial companies can use to replace their existing natural gas and oil boilers.
- Onsite fossil fuel systems account for nearly 8% of global primary energy use, AtmosZero says, noting that its drop-in electric boilers offer industrial businesses a quick and cost-effective method to decarbonize their systems.
Dive Insight:
Manufacturing industries are responsible for 21% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., with process heating accounting for 31% of those emissions, according to research from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory on the electrification potential of industrial boilers.
While electrifying industrial boilers could lead to an overall increase in national fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, regions with cleaner, low-carbon intensity electric grids, such as California, New York and the Pacific Northwest, could achieve greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions than other areas, NREL notes.
By electrifying boiler systems and building a “scalable, drop-in replacement product,” rather than “complex and expensive customized projects,” the company is addressing the problem of industrial emissions, AtmosZero CEO and co-founder Addison Stark said in the release.
Christian Hernandez Gallardo, partner and co-founder of venture capital firm 2150, which co-led the funding round with Engine Ventures, added that industrial process heat in the form of steam is responsible for over two gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
Constellation Technology Ventures also participated in the funding round, joining existing investors Energy Impact Partners, Starlight Ventures and AENU, per the release.
The funding follows a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The IEDO recently earmarked $254 million to cut industrial businesses’ GHG emissions and expedite the development of innovative carbon technologies, asking project applicants to focus on decarbonizing industrial subsectors.
AtmosZero also partnered with manufacturing firm Danfoss on a full-scale pilot project that involves demonstrating a thermal electrified boiler at New Belgium Brewing’s headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado, in late 2024.
