Element Zero, a green materials platform company, announced today that it
has raised $10 million in seed funding, with proceeds to be used to scale up
its platform aimed at decarbonizing iron and other critical metals production.
Founded in 2022, Element Zero offers a cost effective and efficient
platform for the conversion of iron ore and other metals into their pure metal
form with zero carbon emissions, using a non-aqueous electrochemical process to
process the full spectrum of iron ores at a lower temperature that can run on
intermittent renewables like wind, solar, and hydropower. The company said that
it uses 30-40% less energy per ton of iron than coal and gas-based processes,
without the CO2. Steelmaking is one of the biggest emitters of CO2 globally,
and one of the more challenging sectors to abate, with total greenhouse gas
emissions (GHG) from the sector accounting for 7% – 9% of direct emissions from
the global use of fossil fuels.
Based in Perth and the north of Western Australia, adjacent to ports
responsible for nearly 55% of the world’s seaborne iron ore supply, Element
Zero plans to develop five million tons per year of iron ore feed, producing
around 2.7 million tons of high purity iron.
The company said that it will use the new funding to grow its R&D
engineering, and project development teams and scale the development of a pilot
iron plant.
Michael Masterman, Founder and CEO of Element Zero said:
“Our
processing platform will, for the first time, allow cost-effective and scalable
production of carbon-free metals crucial to the iron and steel and critical
metals industries. We are excited to have Playground Global join our journey to
tackle the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors. Support from Playground
Global goes way beyond financial investment, and we are already in deep
discussions about developing green iron and green silicon value chains in the
U.S. We are also working with major iron ore miners and iron and steel
companies globally.”
The funding round was led by early-stage venture capital firm Playground
Global. Peter Barrett, Co-Founder and General Partner at Playground Global, has
joined the company’s board of directors.
Barrett said:
“Element
Zero will help transform Western Australia from the world’s mine into the
world’s foundry, dramatically reducing carbon emissions in the process.
Australia is poised to become a leader in resilient and sustainable global
prosperity – its natural wealth in minerals and renewable energy blended with
innovation in electrochemistry and new materials will cement its leadership in
the energy transformation. Element Zero is a major catalyst in this shift and
the Pilbara region in the north of Western Australia stands as the premier
location globally to showcase the company’s potential.”
Susan Lahey started her
career as a business reporter for The Kansas City Star and has worked as a
freelancer covering business, investment, technology, sustainability and
science for numerous publications. She has also worked as a writer and editor
for publicly funded projects mandating environmental cleanup of a molybdenum
mine in Northern New Mexico; and recovery and resiliency measures following
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Recently she worked as Director of
Communications for a European wave energy company.