Harnessing Light to Decarbonize Chemical Manufacturing: Our Investment in Syzygy Plasmonics
By Lisa Coca, Partner, Toyota Ventures Climate Fund
Ammonia, methanol, olefins, and aromatics — these are the fundamental building blocks in the chemical industry, which contribute to 96% of all manufactured goods. Today, combustion is the predominant way to produce these base chemicals, a process that accounts for almost 4% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since the demand for basic goods is only expected to grow, so too will the amount of GHG emitted — unless the process changes.
Unfortunately, the chemical industry is widely acknowledged as one of the hard-to-abate sectors, in particular because the key processes (i.e. reforming, gasification, and steam cracking) typically require high-temperature heat (>800°C). Alternatives to combustion, such as industrial electric heating, have struggled to meet the high temperatures required in a cost-effective way. That’s why I’m excited to announce Toyota Ventures’ investment in Syzygy Plasmonics, which is on a mission to decarbonize chemical and fuel production by replacing combustion with a renewable-powered LED light source. It is a revolutionary approach that eliminates the emissions associated with combustion, and represents an electrification pathway for the chemical industry.
Based in Houston, Texas, Syzygy was co-founded by Trevor Best (CEO) and Suman Khatiwada (CTO), along with professors Naomi Halas and Peter Nordlander at Rice University, who serve as advisors to the company. The team offers a tremendous combination of technical expertise and industry experience. Syzygy’s high-performance photocatalysts are based on three decades of research spearheaded by the professors. In addition, Trevor has an extensive background in quality control, project management, and technology development having spent nearly a decade at Baker Hughes, where he worked with Dr. Khatiwada.
For our team, it is the versatility of Syzygy’s technology that stands out amongst the crowd. It is truly a “platform” tech, where multiple reactions are possible with only one reactor design, simply by changing the catalyst composition. While its first product-to-market will focus on zero / low-emissions hydrogen, Syzygy has plans to tackle CO2 utilization, ethylene, aromatics, and the production of other specialty chemicals.
Syzygy’s technology has the potential to not only make chemical processes cleaner, but also cheaper. Combining the original scientific breakthroughs at Rice with years of iterative improvements by the team, Syzygy has achieved a very high efficiency for its photocatalytic reaction, enabling low operating expenses. In addition, while traditional reactors require high-cost alloys to withstand the heat, Syzygy’s reactors operate at much lower temperatures and can utilize low-cost materials such as aluminum and glass.
Syzygy aims to eliminate more than a gigaton of GHG emissions by 2040, and we’re excited to support the team along the way as they scale their platform and begin to ship commercial units. We’re proud to participate in the company’s Series C financing round led by Carbon Direct Capital. Special thanks to Climate Fund associate Ethan Sohn and analyst Isay Acenas, both of whom played a key role in driving this deal. Visit Syzygy’s website and the Toyota Ventures portfolio page to learn more.
