Carbience
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS PARTNERSHIP ABOUT CAREER KO CONTACT →

Economically Viable CCU Technology: Minimum Energy for Maximum Carbon Impact

Carbience converts CO₂ into cyclic carbonates through three connected platforms — the Low Energy Process (LEP™), Reactive Capture of CO₂ (RCC), and the Advanced Carbonate Platform (ACP) — designed around one constraint: the economics must work.
01 LEP™02 RCC03 ACPPATENTS

Commercialization takes more than green claims

For CCU to matter commercially, it must be economically viable — reducing heat, pressure, catalyst burden, and scale-up risk. It must do more than sound green on paper.
120–200°C
High heat weakens the carbon case
Conventional cyclic carbonate production demands energy that undercuts the very carbon reduction it claims to deliver.
24–30 bar
High pressure adds equipment burden and operational cost
Extreme reaction pressure means costly pressure-rated equipment before commercial production can even be discussed.
Metal complexes
Catalyst recovery slows evaluation
Metal-complex catalysts raise questions around separation, recovery, reuse, and residue control in every technical due-diligence review.
TRL 6 · PILOT PREPARATION

LEP™ — Low Energy Process for bulk carbonate production

LEP™ converts CO₂ and epoxides into bulk cyclic carbonates — ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) — below 110 °C and 7 bar. The key is an organic amine catalyst engineered for 10× reuse: no metal complexes, no recovery bottleneck, over 50% less process energy.
CO₂ + epoxide → cyclic carbonate organic amine · <110°C · <7 bar
Sub-110°C production window
Reduced heat demand versus conventional 120–200°C routes
<7 bar operating window
Lower CAPEX and OPEX — no extreme pressure-rated equipment
10× catalyst reuse
Recoverable organic amine catalyst — lower handling burden
98%+ conversion & 99%+ purity
Demonstrated for PC under mild operating conditions
CONVENTIONAL
LEP™
Temperature
120–200°C
<110°C
Pressure
24–30 bar
<7 bar
Catalyst
Metal complexes
Organic amines
Catalyst recycle
Limited
10+ cycles
Conversion
80–95%
98%+
TRL 4 · LAB OPTIMIZATION

RCC — capture and conversion in a single pathway

Reactive Capture of CO₂ takes flue gas and converts the captured CO₂ directly into carbonates. Functionalized MOF sorbents activate CO₂ for conversion, targeting the lowest CAPEX and OPEX among CCU processes.
7 → 4 PROCESS STEPS
CONVENTIONAL CCU — 7 STEPS
3 ENERGY-INTENSIVE STEPS ELIMINATED BY RCC
01
Absorption
02 ✕
Desorption
100°C+ HEAT
03 ✕
Purification
04 ✕
Liquefaction / storage
ENERGY INTENSIVE
05
CO₂ activation
06
Reaction
07
Purification
RCC COLLAPSES CAPTURE + CONVERSION INTO ONE PATHWAY ↓
CARBIENCE RCC — 4 STEPS
1
Absorption
Flue gas captured by a functionalized sorbent
→
2
CO₂ activation
On an amine-functionalized MOF sorbent
→
3
Direct reaction
Straight to carbonate — no desorption, no liquefaction
→
4
Purification
High-purity cyclic carbonate product
NO DESORPTION NO LIQUEFACTION LOWEST-OPEX TARGET
Target: large point-source emitters
Power plants and industrial sites where flue gas can feed conversion directly.
Complements LEP™
Sites with existing capture equipment can adopt LEP™; sites without it can adopt RCC.
Honest maturity
TRL 4, in lab optimization — with DAC collaboration planned with Enbion.
10 KG SCALE-UP · 2026 COMMERCIALIZATION

ACP — CO₂-derived monomer production platform

The Advanced Carbonate Platform applies LEP™ chemistry to functional materials. Its lead products — dicyclic carbonate monomers and polyols for non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU), along with polycarbonate polyols — are produced below 110 °C and 5 bar by bonding CO₂ directly to epoxy backbones.
NIPU monomers — BA-DCC · PEG-DCC
Isocyanate-free polyurethane for coatings, adhesives, resins
Flame-retardant polyols
Waste-PET + carbonate chemistry for Korea's stricter insulation codes
Low-energy polyols
Polycarbonate-polyol pathways targeting deeper carbon reduction

Seven patent assets protecting the platform

7 TOTAL
1 REGISTERED
6 FILED · INCL. PCT
DATE
NUMBER
TITLE
STATUS
2026.03
KR 10-2937356
Method for producing eco-friendly alkylene carbonate
REGISTERED
2025.02
PCT/KR2025/001842
Method for producing eco-friendly alkylene carbonate (international)
PCT
2025.10
KR 10-2025-0162468
Cyclic carbonate conversion of alkylene oxide and CO₂ using solid resin catalyst
FILED
2025.08
KR 10-2025-0113002
Alkylene carbonate and production method thereof
FILED
2025.03
KR 10-2025-0036614
Low-energy cyclic carbonate production for GHG reduction using organic catalysts
FILED
2025.01
KR 10-2025-0011573
Alkylene carbonate and production method thereof
FILED
2024.02
KR 10-2024-0026055
Eco-friendly semi-nonflammable polyurethane composition and preparation method
FILED

Technical questions, answered directly

What is the Low Energy Process™ in CO₂ conversion? +
LEP™ is Carbience's catalytic CO₂ conversion technology for producing cyclic carbonates from CO₂ and epoxides below 110 °C and 6–7 bar — versus 120–200 °C and 24–30 bar conventionally — using an organic amine catalyst reusable at least 10 times.
What is Reactive Capture of CO₂ (RCC)? +
RCC captures flue-gas CO₂ at ambient conditions and converts it directly into carbonates on amine-functionalized MOF sorbents — removing desorption and liquefaction from the pathway. It is at TRL 4, in lab optimization.
Why does Carbience use organic amine catalysts instead of metal complexes? +
Metal-complex catalysts create recovery, residue, and reuse problems that slow industrial evaluation. Carbience's organic amine catalysts are recoverable and designed for at least 10 reuse cycles — removing a major due-diligence hurdle and lowering operating cost.
Can Carbience's process scale without green hydrogen? +
Yes. Unlike e-fuel CCU routes, Carbience's thermochemical carbonate synthesis uses CO₂ and epoxides directly — no hydrogen input — so scale-up depends only on standard chemical process equipment.
Carbience
CCU MATERIALS FOR CARBON REDUCTION
THE ONLY WAY TO NET ZERO
Technology Applications Partnership
About Career Contact Privacy
104, Science Park-dong, 1646 Yuseong-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34054, Republic of Korea jskim@carbience.kr © 2026 Carbience, Inc. All rights reserved.