Solvay Ventures, the venture capital fund of Solvay, has invested in Compact Membrane Systems (CMS), a US company that creates membrane solutions that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help decarbonize heavy industries through the use of carbon capture technologies. The investment is part of Solvay’s ongoing efforts to invest in sustainable solutions and grow its offering and expertise in this area. 

 

CMS is a pioneer in membrane solutions for highly-demanding industrial applications, which help improve sustainability in a wide range of industries. This involves developing low-cost, low-energy and solvent-free separation and carbon capture technologies, which play a vital role in enabling the clean energy transition and achieving carbon neutrality, especially in hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, materials and chemicals.

 

“Investing in sustainable solutions, as well as developing products that help protect climate is a priority for Solvay and we’re excited to support CMS’ efforts to enable the clean energy transition and ensure all industries can achieve carbon neutrality in the near future” said David Thomas, Vice President Research & Innovation at Solvay Speciality Polymers. “We work in partnership with the companies we invest in, acting as an innovation accelerator to create shared opportunities for sustainable growth.”

 

“We already have a strong relationship with Solvay, which supplies us with materials for the development of our advanced membrane solutions,” said Erica Nemser, CEO of CMS. “The Group’s investment is a welcome next step in our relationship, which will allow both companies to advance efforts to provide sustainable solutions for industrial applications."

 

As part of its development plan, CMS has successfully piloted its Optiperm technology in an olefin paraffin separation application at a leading polyolefins company, and has signed multiple field deployments for CO2 capture demonstration in 2023 and onwards.