By Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S.-based ClearFlame Engine Technologies has raised $30 million in a funding round led by global energy trader Mercuria and backed by new investors including miner Rio Tinto, it said its chief executive to Reuters.
ClearFlame, whose technology enables diesel engines to run on more climate-friendly fuels, said the Series B round was also backed by WIND Ventures, the venture arm of Chile’s COPEC, and existing investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
As the world’s biggest automakers race to electrify passenger vehicles, the engines most used by trucking companies, trains, farmers and utilities remain largely powered by diesel, a fossil fuel that also causes great air pollution.
To help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, ClearFlame modifies the engine design by changing 10-15% of engine parts to allow it to run on a variety of fuels, including ethanol and ammonia.
“Effectively … it’s a higher-temperature combustion process. It’s very easy to integrate into the manufacturing and maintenance process,” which helps keep costs down, said ClearFlame CEO and co-founder BJ Johnson.
The $50,000 to $60,000 cost of retrofitting a Class 8 truck, for example, could be recouped in 12-15 months, he said, which is likely to be attractive to many companies committed to reducing fleet emissions.
“Our carbon impact per mile is actually lower than driving an electric vehicle—the fuels we use are cleaner than the grid,” Johnson said, making the switch more cost-effective.
Diesel accounts for about 26 percent of the transport sector’s carbon emissions, ClearFlame said, and is also responsible for particulate matter and black soot. A fuel like ethanol can cut emissions by 45-50 percent and soot by more than 90 percent, Johnson said.
The company, which already has US farm equipment maker Deere & Co as an investor, is working with five of the largest US trucking fleets to pilot the technology and is looking to branch out into the mining, agriculture and power generation, Johnson said. .
Mercuria’s Boris Bystrov said in a statement that its investment reflected the belief that ClearFlame’s technology can “economically decarbonize heavy industry.”
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
