Belfast-based air quality technology company Catagen has launched five advanced climate technologies that enable the production of green hydrogen and e-fuels that could help significantly reduce carbon emissions.

The company unveiled patent-protected prototypes for the five technologies at an event at its Titanic Quarter headquarters, and also officially launched the ClimaHtech brand, under which the products will go to market.

The launch comes nine months after Catagen received five funding awards from the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio to accelerate research and testing of net zero products.

In addition to developing new ways to generate green hydrogen, bio-hydrogen and e-fuels, Catagen has also created complementary systems for carbon capture and hydrogen compression.

Green hydrogen and e-fuels can be used to replace fossil fuels in several key sectors, including manufacturing, transport, power, mobility and agriculture.

In Association with

Catagen said it is now on track to deliver full-scale demonstrators in 2024 and has plans to scale the business significantly in the next three to five years. 

“Climate change affects everything. It’s shaping cities, economies, landscapes, how we move and how we live," said Dr Andrew Woods. CEO of Catagen.

"We are creating new technologies that clean and decarbonise the air, applying our innovations to decarbonising challenging sectors such as industry, shipping, and aviation. We are committed to finding a collective solution that will cut CO2 emissions and enable a move away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources.

“Technology, talent, and a united sense of purpose have taken us to the point where today our team can launch ClimaHtech, a configurable system which uses advanced climate technologies to produce green hydrogen and efuels.

"This technology is scalable and by adopting efficient green hydrogen energy powered by renewable sources such as wind and solar, we can help fulfil net zero pledges across multi sector industries.”

Catagen said its initial focus is on decarbonising industry, and working with manufacturing, transportation and renewable energy companies to provide a new source of renewable energy and improve air quality.

The company also aims to produce solutions that address wider problems with energy security, grid stability and aviation fuel emissions.

Mannok, a leading manufacturers of construction products, including cement and precast concrete blocks, in Ireland and the UK, is one of the first companies to use Catagen’s technology to support their decarbonisation efforts.  

Kevin Lunney, operations director of Mannok Build, said: “Decarbonisation of our operations, including cement production is a significant challenge.

"The Mannok board has commissioned Catagen to develop a feasibility study to understand the benefits of integrating Catagen’s hydrogen production and e-fuel production techniques using waste heat from the cement manufacturing process to reduce emissions.

"Catagen is an exciting company developing needed technologies and we look forward to being with them on this journey.”

Catagen plans to more than double its workforce from 36 to 75 over the next year before growing its headcount to 130 in 2024.

“Catagen’s mission is to clean and decarbonise the air and our team has shown real ingenuity to develop these prototypes and put us on a dedicated path to delivering industrial-scale system solutions," said Prof Roy Douglas, CTO of Catagen. 

"We are seeing tremendous demand for these innovations across manufacturing, electricity, agriculture and transportation but there are steps still to take to make our climate technology system a mass deployed commercial reality.

“Industry has to change and has to become cleaner, cutting its carbon-dioxide emissions to zero. Working in partnership with the UK government and industry leaders, our goal is to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels to cleaner greener energy, helping to decarbonise and reduce emissions in the most challenging sectors of industry.”

Photo: (l-r) Catagen founder Dr Andrew Woods and Prof. Roy Douglas.