Equatic advances ocean‑based carbon removal with new commercial projects

Equatic, a Santa Monica startup spun out of UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management, is betting that the planet’s oceans can be engineered into a cost‑effective route for large‑scale carbon dioxide removal while simultaneously yielding low‑carbon hydrogen for industrial use. Backed by an $11.6 million Series A round led by Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (a Temasek Trust division) and Kibo Invest, the company is progressing plans for multiple commercial plants that aim to demonstrate the industrial viability of seawater electrolysis at scale. According to Equatic, the August 2025 funding will accelerate engineering scale‑up and commercialisation of its patented process.

Equatic’s approach repurposes seawater as both feedstock and sink. In its system, renewable electricity drives electrolysis that breaks seawater into hydrogen, oxygen, acidic and alkaline streams. The alkaline output is used to lock CO2 into stable dissolved and solid forms, increasing the ocean’s capacity to draw down atmospheric carbon; the acidic stream is neutralised before return to the sea. Equatic describes the hydrogen produced as carbon‑negative because the net process removes more CO2 than it emits. The company presents this dual outcome, permanent carbon removal alongside supply of low‑emissions hydrogen, as a way to align decarbonisation of industrial heat and mobility with scalable carbon management.

Plans now extend beyond laboratory demonstration. Equatic has disclosed two flagship projects intended to validate commercial performance in different markets. The Equatic‑1 facility proposed for Singapore is described by the company as the world’s largest ocean‑based carbon removal plant; Equatic says it would remove several thousand tonnes of CO2 per year while producing several hundred kilograms of hydrogen per day. Separately, in partnership with Canadian project developer Deep Sky, Equatic has begun engineering work on what it calls North America’s first commercial‑scale ocean‑based carbon removal plant, targeting roughly 109,500 tonnes of CO2 removal and around 3,600 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, with ambitions to reach removal costs below $100 per tonne by 2030.

Industry observers and policy makers are watching such projects for two reasons. First, the technology promises to leverage abundant and widely distributed seawater resources, which could make large‑volume removal geographically flexible compared with geological storage or land‑intensive direct air capture facilities. Second, co‑production of hydrogen addresses a pressing industrial need: many heavy industries and some segments of transport are seeking reliable sources of low‑carbon hydrogen as they electrify and phase out fossil fuels.

That said, Equatic’s concept raises practical and regulatory questions that will determine commercial uptake. Returning altered seawater chemistry to the ocean demands careful monitoring to satisfy environmental regulators and coastal communities; managing local impacts on marine ecosystems and complying with national and international marine discharge rules will be essential. Equatic acknowledges the need for rigorous environmental controls and for onshore facilities that can provide traceable carbon accounting and verification to meet corporate and cross‑border regulatory requirements.

Economics will also be decisive. Equatic points to recent declines in renewable electricity costs as an enabling factor for its model, arguing that cheap, abundant clean power is critical for operating energy‑intensive electrolysis at competitive price points. Industry data show that falling solar and wind costs have unlocked a wide range of electrification strategies across the economy; Equatic positions its process as complementary to electrified industrial heat, green manufacturing and the rising electricity demand from data centres and other digital infrastructure.

Investors appear willing to back that thesis: the Series A raise led by climate‑focused investors aims to fund engineering scale‑up and the company’s first 100‑kiloton commercial‑grade removal facility roadmap. Equatic describes the ocean as the planet’s principal natural carbon sink, removing roughly 30% of anthropogenic CO2 annually, and argues that engineered interventions are needed because conventional geological carbon storage and other removals are not scaling quickly enough to meet climate targets.

For corporations procuring removals as part of net‑zero plans, the technology offers a potential pathway to verifiable, high‑volume credits coupled with hydrogen supply. Yet market participants and verification bodies will demand transparent, science‑based measurement, reporting and verification frameworks that account for permanence, leakage risks and co‑benefits or harms to marine systems. Equatic’s commercial case therefore rests not only on engineering performance and unit costs but also on its ability to deliver robust, auditable carbon accounting and to navigate emerging regulatory regimes for ocean‑based interventions.

Equatic’s trajectory reflects broader shifts in the industrial decarbonisation landscape: venture capital flows into alternative energy and carbon management continue to favour approaches that couple emissions reductions with usable industrial outputs. If the company’s pilot projects validate both environmental safeguards and the promised cost curves, ocean‑based electrolysis could become a significant component of hard‑to‑abate sectors’ decarbonisation strategies. Until then, the sector will be judged on demonstrable plant performance, independent verification of removal permanence and the practicalities of integrating coastal facility operations into regulatory and supply‑chain frameworks.