Methane

• AccelR8 prioritizes venture-backable solutions to the “most important, most unmet” drivers of climate change.
• Although shorter-lived in the atmosphere, methane’s global warming potential is ~85x stronger than that of CO₂ over a 20-year timeframe and it’s responsible for 20-30% of warming to-date.
• As a colorless and odorless gas, however, methane measurements have historically been challenging and based on assumptions-based calculations that are frequently underestimated. Accurately identifying and sizing methane leaks is vital for effective mitigation.

• A remarkably broad array of startups and solutions exist for methane MRV, spanning hardware and software. This breadth has emerged in response to a demand landscape that is very fragmented – in oil and gas, for example, one operator often manages a variety of sites whose individual needs can vary widely based on locale, part of value chain, and more.
• Coupled with the fragmentation is a checkered regulatory environment; the U.S. Congress repealed the Inflation Reduction Act’s methane fee, indicating a step-back from the major U.S. methane MRV regulations that the IRA set forth, while other actions such as the E.U.’s methane MRV requirements for imports starting in 2027 could still drive regulatory pressure.
• At the same time, methane mitigation has an inherent value proposition given that the molecule’s a valuable commodity as a very useful (and sellable) high-energy fuel source.

• Lower the cost (and price) of the highest-sensitivity solutions, such as optical gas imaging, by an order of magnitude. Approaches can include potential metasurface applications, low-cost or replacement of cryocooling, component redesign, or more.
• Improve the performance of continuous sensor technology by an order of magnitude at a low price (e.g., single-digit-dollars per device). This includes components – e.g., new sensor arrays integrated into existing devices – as well as full devices, with additional value if able to sense multiple gases (CO₂, VOCs, SF₆, H₂, etc).
• Offer an all-in-one solution that addresses all of a customer’s pain points – from monitoring diverse sites at different proximities, to reducing humans in-the-loop, to delivering predictive analysis for optimizing operations – in a highly integrated, intuitive package.

• We’re actively seeking to connect with electrical and chemical engineers, researchers, and early-stage innovators working on developing and commercializing the above technology – if you have a solution that fits the bill, please reach out!
• If you want to jam more on this topic with us or think we’re missing something, we’d also be delighted if you send us a note.

Nitrous Oxide

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Fluorinated Gases

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