Scott Walton
Enovex

We breath in ‘good’ air, exhale ‘bad’ air. The need for the two to be separated, and the benefit of the two being separated increases as the scale increases. Scott Walton, President of Enovex, New Brunswick, saw that opportunity in the context of carbon capture for coal-burning industrial plants. He says, “There are close to 1500 coal-burning plants in China, the US, and India. Between them they emit 230 tonnes of carbon dioxide gas per second.

A man with a background in business, Scott recognized the importance and the potential of the carbon capture industry when scouting out business ideas. Existing technology wasn’t doing it, and as global industry lurches forward in its greener initiatives, governments are looking at regulating emissions and carbon capture.

Scott worked with engineers from the University of New Brunswick to invent a next-generation Hybrid Carbon Capture System to separate good gas from bad gas in industrial plants where coal is used for power generation. The gases are separated in the stack, the ‘good’ gas is let go, and the ‘bad’ gas is captured, compressed and liquefied for other uses such as making cement.

About two years into the project, when they had just begun the prototyping phase for proof of concept, Scott went to EF on the strength of a personal contact with a staff member. His challenge was business development and financing: he needed to develop a strategy that would build clarity and thus relationships with potential partners.

He says, “My EF session was a three-hour meeting with six very focused people. Awesome. There was a balance of financial, business development and marketing people. The session validated my concerns, and led me to key contacts in my target market.”

From a business perspective, Scott says “It will be the world’s first economical carbon capture system, and it’s happening fast.” The Enovex Hybrid Carbon Capture System prototype is scheduled to be complete by year’s end, and it has captured the attention of three of the largest energy firms in the world.