Rimere Secures $10 Million to Advance Emission-Reducing Plasma Tech for Clean Hydrogen and Graphene Production
Clean energy solutions company Rimere has secured a $10 million strategic investment from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to further develop and field test its proprietary plasma technology designed to reduce emissions from natural gas systems while enabling the production of clean hydrogen and graphene.
The new capital injection will help accelerate the deployment of Rimere’s Reformer and Mitigator devices that employ plasma-based processes to convert natural gas into hydrogen and graphene without carbon dioxide emissions, and to mitigate methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure, respectively.
Rimere’s Reformer uses a unique sequential hybrid plasma process to reform natural gas into high-purity hydrogen and high-quality graphene. Unlike conventional methane reforming methods, Rimere’s technology completely eliminates carbon dioxide emissions during operation. This means that when renewable natural gas is used as the feedstock, the hydrogen produced can achieve a negative carbon intensity rating.
The company’s Mitigator technology acts as a plasma thermal oxidizer to reduce the climate impact of methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure such as pipelines, compressors, and pneumatic controllers. This provides a cost-effective solution for mitigating methane leaks across natural gas systems.
The strategic investment from Clean Energy Fuels, a major provider of renewable natural gas and conventional natural gas for transportation in North America, will allow Rimere to accelerate the development and field testing of both its Reformer and Mitigator technologies.
Clean Energy’s President and CEO Andrew J. Littlefair reiterated the company’s long-standing dedication to advancing environmentally beneficial products and technologies. “We view our investment in Rimere as strategic for both companies to address the challenges faced by the natural gas and hydrogen sectors in order to provide emission-free solutions,” he said.
Founded in 2020, Rimere has now raised a total of $18.25 million in committed capital. The company is currently an equity method investee of Clean Energy Fuels, which reports its pro rata share of Rimere’s financial results in its consolidated financial statements.
With the additional funding, Rimere aims to further develop and deploy its Reformer and Mitigator products that can play an important role in reducing the carbon footprint of the natural gas value chain while enabling the production of clean hydrogen to support the global energy transition. The emission-mitigating technologies could also open up new market opportunities around monetizing emission reductions.
