Green Sequest – Innovative startup from Wroclaw saves our atmosphere by helping to air out rocks

Green Sequest, is a young innovative company from Nasławice, near Wrocław, which has developed a method of removing carbon dioxide from the air using Enhanced Rock Weathering technology. The rock used for this process is serpentinite, which is characterised by a high capacity to absorb CO2. According to studies, 1 tonne of serpentinite can remove up to 500 kg of carbon dioxide. This is one of the safest and most sustainable methods, as it is removed for more than 10 000 years.

Necessary reduction of greenhouse gases

Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies are a set of methods that contribute to accelerating the cleaning of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They include processes to remove it and store it in a sustainable and safe manner, allowing the reduction of greenhouse gases.

“It is a solution rooted in nature. CO2 reacts with rain to form carbonic acid, which then reacts with minerals in certain types of rock, such as serpentinite. During this reaction, the carbon transforms into other molecules and is trapped for millennia. But without our intervention it takes thousands of years. That is why I focus our efforts on accelerating and optimising this process.”
– Mirosław Kotowski, CEO of Green Sequest

“The current pace of emission reductions is insufficient, so methods that contribute to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are growing in importance. The current decade is a key one for the development of such methods. Although awareness in this area is relatively low, there is a growing amount of research, R&D and successful implementations in this field.”
– Adrian Podgórny, COO Green Sequest

In an effort to improve air quality

The Green Sequest team consists of specialists in the mineral extraction industry with experience in business projects of various scales. Following the changes in the atmosphere, as well as the development of modern technologies to improve air quality, they decided to start working on a solution that would allow serpentinite to effectively and quickly absorb and permanently store large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. To achieve this, Green Sequest began working with Polish scientists from the Oil and Gas Institute, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow and the Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials in Warsaw. They are currently conducting research to accelerate CO2 sequestration processes by serpentinite and to develop its commercial applications.

A market worth a trillion dollars?

The market related to the removal and permanent storage of CO2 from the atmosphere is one of the fastest growing markets in Climate Tech. The value of transactions in the market increased by 337 per cent in 2021 and by 533 per cent in 2022.

Green Sequest is still one of the few companies in Europe that does this type of business.

At the beginning of 2023, Green Sequest was one of eight European startups in the second stage of the Carbon Removal ClimAccelerator, which allowed the Wroclaw-based company to become part of the ecosystem of companies and institutions involved in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“Market analyses show that demand for solutions to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will increase 100-fold by 2050, creating a trillion-dollar market. Despite the significant growth and momentum of the market, it is still in the early stages of development. Its total size in 2022 is around a quarter of a billion dollars. It is estimated to grow 10-fold by 2030.”
– Adrian Podgórny, COO Green Sequest

“Our work requires combining many different disciplines: geology, geochemistry, minerology, soil science, agricultural science, knowledge of CO2 emissions and policies relating to this. It is also necessary to keep a constant eye on this rapidly developing market. We are currently focusing on fine-tuning our solution on the technological and scientific side. In parallel, we are developing a method for measuring, verifying and reporting that will enable the issue of CO2 absorption certificates and their sale.”
– Mirosław Kotowski, CEO of Green Sequest