There has been a new zest in solving climate change and related problems in the 21st century. While the onus was on governments and associated agencies before, private companies have stepped forward to take the baton forward. In what is the largest private investments in a carbon capture solutions provider to date, South Korean conglomerate, SK Group has imbued USD 100 million into 8 Rivers to form a joint venture that will work towards deploying zero-emissions projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
Since decarbonization — the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources — received an official nod at the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015, there has been an earnest push towards lowering greenhouse gas emissions that could impact the earth’s climate and achieve net zero.
8 Rivers is a full-service net zero solutions provider that aims to “develop and deploy sustainable, infrastructure-scale solutions to meet the global goal of net zero by 2050.” It does this through developing and licensing technology that provides actionable solutions that are economically feasible enough to be commercialized. The company has been at the forefront of carbon capture and oxy-combustion and one of the first names in the energy transition industry. 8 River’s technology portfolio includes the 8RH2 clean hydrogen technology and the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle power generation system.
Key projects of 8 Rivers includes Whitetail Clean Energy in the UK, Broadwing Energy in Central Illinois in the US, and the Coyote Energy in Southern Ute Indian Reservation, also in the U.S. SK Group’s technological and engineering capabilities will serve as a force multiplier for 8 Rivers, while the former will leverage the partnership to deploy clean projects for its domestic and foreign operations.
“Decarbonizing the global economy is both a multi-trillion-dollar business opportunity and, more importantly, an environmental and social necessity,” said 8 Rivers CEO Cam Hosie. “I can imagine no better partner than the SK Group to accelerate gigaton-scale deployment of 8 Rivers’ clean, net zero technologies, helping drive economic and social development globally.”
Young Wook Lee, President, of SK Inc. Materials said, “SK looks forward to accelerating the deployment of 8 Rivers’ technologies across the global energy market by combining SK’s domestic and foreign energy infrastructure, business capabilities, and 8 Rivers’ world-class portfolio of clean technologies and projects, and the launch of our Asian joint venture with 8 Rivers is a key initiative that cements SK’s position as an energy transition leader in the region.” Lee added, “SK is actively investing in eco-friendly business to achieve a ‘Zero Carbon Footprint,’ and SK is looking forward in order to reduce 200 million tons of CO2 through 2030. This deal with 8 Rivers is also aligned with SK’s goal for SK to be the leader in accomplishing net zero and to also lead the global carbon reduction business with 8 Rivers and their innovative carbon capture technology.”
Bill Brown, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of 8 Rivers Capital said, “Partnerships are precious. At the simplest level, they are about compatibility of execution, but more importantly, they are about the compatibility of vision. Of all the potential investors that approached 8 Rivers over the last 15 years, SK was the first that fully shared our vision of a whole ESG system. To get to Net Zero, McKinsey has estimated the world needs to spend USD 25 billion per day for 30 years. No single company today is suited for that scale. SK and 8 Rivers know and understand that we need a new business model that does not trace its existence to any single company today. Instead, that model will be an amalgamation across silos — much like Amazon. Since the expansion of decarbonization technologies including carbon capture is imminent, both 8 Rivers and SK are focusing on the energy system and on the customers, and not on just one technology. That combination is what will allow our two firms to create the premier global net-zero company that will lead the world’s clean technology future.”
SK Group’s businesses are primarily involved in energy industries, and it has announced its commitment to build sustainable clean energy value chains in Korean and Asian markets. As such, the multinational is a fitting strategic capital investor and partner for 8 Rivers’ clean technology portfolio.
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