By Jaeson Cardiff, CEO, CleanO2 Carbon Capture Technologies Inc.
Did you know up to 20 per cent carbon dioxide is produced when we heat buildings and heat water within those buildings?
When I started on a path of trying to solve the problem of carbon emissions from heating appliances, I had no idea how perilous this journey would become. The art of creating something new expands beyond ideation. In fact, creating a piece of hardware or software represents a small fraction of the work that’s required. The real work is in overcoming countless problems and creating new solutions at every step.
In 2005, I began creating a new technology that could convert carbon emissions from the combustion of natural gas into a valuable by-product. Through development, Kathi Fischer, my friend and current Chief Science Officer and I discovered that the most straightforward application of our converted carbon by-product was in manufacturing soap products. Our technology, CarbinX, could capture the carbon dioxide produced and through a zero-waste process, upcycle the carbon through a reaction with potassium hydroxide into potassium carbonate, a key ingredient found in soap. The act of converting carbon into soap was a near-instant success and year after year, we won awards for the personal care products we were producing. This was largely due to the world-class formulator, Michelle Regel, who we brought in to help create our amazing products.
All the while, we were slowly losing our focus on the sole purpose of our technology and why be started on this journey in the first place. To reduce emissions.
Eventually, we got to the point where we stopped advertising the technology. Our marketing and business development people were so enamoured with our soap products that we lost sight of the key ingredient in our company, the CarbinX system. Our sleek carbon capture module became an afterthought. As a result of this, along with other factors too sensitive to relay here, our company found itself in deep financial trouble. Not only had we become known as the carbon capture soap company, but we found all of the work we had done to bring our technology to market fell behind schedule. By the time I recognized where we were at, cleantech investment was experiencing a downturn and one thing lead the next until I was faced with the difficult decision to lay off the majority of my staff. Letting people go as a result of something I did or as a result of a direction I took was gut-wrenching.
The lesson I’ve learned, and one I hope to pass on, is that losing focus doesn’t have to be the end of the story. It’s in those moments of misdirection that we gain clarity. We may have stumbled, but those stumbles taught us more than success ever could. Today, CleanO2 Carbon Capture Technologies stands stronger because we’ve learned the hard way that focus is everything. CleanO2 is now fully aligned with our original mission: reducing carbon emissions from heating appliances. That’s the core of who we are, and that’s where our focus will remain.
Our CarbinX system is the world’s first micro-scale commercial carbon capture technology. The size of two refrigerators, CarbinX fits in a wide variety of spaces and supports a number of operation profiles such as manufacturing plants, commercial facilities, recreation centres, stadiums or high rise buildings. And, while we still make soap, it is our technology that is leading the way.
So, here’s what I want to leave you with: Losing focus isn’t failure. It’s a detour, a reminder to recalibrate, and an opportunity to come back stronger, more determined, and more focused than ever. And that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re back, and this time, our sights are set on the mission that started it all.
Originally published in IGNITE V9.
