A year and a half after its establishment, Limenet, a start-up that has developed an innovative technology that allows Co2 to be removed from the atmosphere and stored in seawater through a natural chemical process with potential beneficial effects on the marine ecosystem, presents the first industrial plant built at Augusta in the Syracuse area.
An achievement that marks a significant step in the development of the industrialisation of technology and the growth of society, according to Stefano Cappello, CEO and founder of Limenet, echoing the contents of the conference: ‘Limenet opening’ attended by various representatives of the scientific, industrial and economic world, including Stefano Caserini, University of Parma and Daniela Basso, University of Milan-Bicocca, Jacopo Visetti, co-founder of Aither, Stefano Molino, head of CDP Venture Capital’s Accelerators Fund, as well as Francesco Di Sarcina, president of the Port Authority of Augusta and Giovanni D’Angelo, scheme manager sustainability & energy at RINA. The meeting, moderated by Beatrice Capano, stakeholder and impact specialist at Limenet It was an opportunity not only to take stock of the results of scientific research and the future goals of the company, which at the same time opens up its capital to new investors, but also to discuss in depth with industry experts the impact of climate change, the need to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to limit emissions in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
The Augusta plant and RINA certification
The plant, located in Augusta, is now the largest in the world in terms of Co2 storage capacity – 100kg/h – at sea in the form of calcium bicarbonates. This Co2 sequestration plant is 100 times the size of the pilot plant built by Limenet at the beginning of 2023 in La Spezia. Thanks to this technological achievement, the company founded by Giovanni Cappello, gasification expert, Stefano Cappello, environmental engineer, and Enrico Noseda, consolidates its technology on the market.
During 2024 Limenet also received a positive verification opinion from RINA by obtaining ISO 14064-2 certification of its methodology for Co2 removal. This recognition is a key step in increasing transparency and credibility in the marketplace on Co2 removal technology processes.
The presentation of the plant and the obtaining of the certification come after the signing of the first commercial agreement with KlimaDAO, a platform active in the voluntary carbon credit market. The latter purchased one thousand high-quality carbon credits equivalent to the removal of one thousand tonnes of Co2.
Five million euro capital increase
After having raised more than EUR 2 million in its first year of existence through a participatory financial instrument (PFS) that saw companies such as Aither, Core Angels Climate, Moonstone, Forest Valley Catalyst, Faros (an accelerator of the National CDP Network) and Leone La Ferla enter the capital, the company announced a EUR 5 million capital increase. The funds to be raised will be used to finance the company’s development and growth in the carbon removal market.
“After years of research and experiments we are honoured, and I must say also very excited, to be able to present our first industrial plant in Augusta. This achievement marks a significant step in the development of our technology and the growth of the company,’ says Stefano Cappello in the note – . In the last 12 months we have grown a lot, and very quickly, we have sold the first CO2 credits equivalent to one thousand tonnes of negative emissions thanks to the agreement with KlimaDAO, and we have completed an acceleration process at Faros, the blue economy accelerator of the CDP Venture Capital network, which has supported us in our growth path. In addition, thanks to the collaboration with the Port Authority of the Eastern Sicily Sea, we launched the first project in Italy, and among the first in the world, to remove carbon in the sea using calcium bicarbonates, thus being able to start playing our part in the great game of decarbonisation. We are now ready for the second phase of growth and a new capital increase that will allow us to raise the necessary funds to support the company’s growth.”.
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