Noya

Josh Santos is the Co-founder and CEO of Noya, a company with the goal of reversing climate change by pulling CO2 directly from the sky. He studied Chemical-Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to starting Noya, he worked as project manager for Tesla and Harley Davidson.

What is the Challenge?

Rising temperatures due to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity. 51 billion is the amount of greenhouses gas, in tons, emitted globally each year, which we have to get down to net-zero by 2050. Around 7-8 of those billions will need to come from carbon capture, according to the IEA. That means that we need to move from carbon capture of thousands of tons, where we are today, to capturing several billions of tons of CO2 by 2050. Around half of the reduction capacity needed for 2050 is expected to come from new technologies that are currently at the demonstration or prototype phase. It is therefore critical to invest in new carbon capture technologies.

What is the Solution?

Noya’s solution is to add a non-toxic carbon-capturing chemical blend to the water in the cooling towers. This chemical blend then captures the CO2 in the air that passes through it before re-emitting the air into the atmosphere. The process requires no redesign of the existing tower and is easy to install. Companies then reap the benefits in two ways: by getting a cut of the proceeds from sale of CO2 to other industries and by receiving carbon credits to offset their own emissions produced.

The impact of Noya’s solution is huge since there are millions of cooling towers around the world that could capture Gigatons of CO2 annually. Noya estimates that refitting all cooling towers around the world has the potential to sequester over 6 Gigatons of CO2 annually. In an ideal future, no cooling tower will be complete without Noya’s carbon capturing technology.

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