Company

Mantra Energy Alternatives is developing two groundbreaking electrochemical technologies designed to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions: ERC (“Electro-Reduction of CO2”), a technology to convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals, and MRFC (“Mixed-Reactant Fuel Cell”), a novel fuel cell with many advantages. These technologies are being actively developed and scaled up at Mantra’s laboratory facilities in Burnaby, B.C.

Technology

Mantra’s ERC technology employs an electrochemical reactor to convert carbon dioxide, the most notorious greenhouse gas, into valuable products. By doing so, large stationary emitters, such as cement or power plants, can profitably reduce CO2 emissions by generating a valuable, salable chemical. Chemicals that can be produced from CO2 using ERC include formic acid and its salts, carbon monoxide, methanol, formaldehyde, and hydrocarbons.

The MRFC is an unconventional technology that promises to be significantly less expensive and simpler than conventional fuel cells. By utilizing a mixture of fuel and oxidant, the MRFC eliminates the costly and failure-prone ion-selective membrane and heavy bipolar flow plates, and allows for broad system simplifications. Because cost has been a barrier to the widespread adoption of fuel cell technology, and Mantra expects to deliver it at less than half the cost of conventional systems, the MRFC is set to revolutionize the market.

The integration of Mantra’s ERC and MRFC technologies provide a novel form of energy storage. Energy storage solutions are being increasingly sought as intermittent renewable sources make up an increasing fraction of electrical grids worldwide.