FROM SEA TO SKY: THE FUTURE OF DIRECT AIR CAPTURE

Nova Scotia start-up Aeon Blue in Foresight Canada’s Top 50 Most Investible Companies for developing sustainable fuels using renewable energy, saltwater and captured CO2 from the air

“Clean energy is the #1 crisis of this century, with water as the second. We're here to impact gigatons of carbon while proving that the clean fuels industry doesn't need to pull from the freshwater resources communities depend on. Our ultrapure water serves vital industries—pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, chemical processing—and as climate change accelerates, seawater is increasingly becoming the source for humanity's future. Our platform delivers a comprehensive solution to the most significant challenges of our era.”

-- Lark Meadow, CEO & Co-Founder, Aeon Blue

WATERTODAY learned about Aeon Blue in a statement provided by Lark Meadow.

WT: Please introduce yourself to our viewers.

Meadow:We are Aeon Blue. I serve as CEO and co-founded the company with Deóis (“Yoshi”) Ua Cearnaigh, our Chief Science Officer. We are siblings and our technology is based on Yoshi’s life’s work as an electrochemist and renewable energy scientist. My background is in executive management, project development, relations, and media.

It all started when Yoshi called me 10 years ago with a request to help him bring his technology to market. We teamed up, not just because I believe in him, but because I believe in the transformative impact this technology will have.

After years in stealth mode—pivoting twice, navigating Covid, finding the right product-market fit, and doing an international move to Canada, our company is the iteration that you see today.

Our purpose is to “leave this world better than we found it”, and our seawater-to-fuels platform solves the high cost of eFuels for hard-to-abate industries like aviation and maritime, while also maximizing carbon impact because we make a portfolio of products (atmospheric CO2, ultrapure water, and eRocket Fuel). Through integration of high energy processes and a portfolio

that spreads risk and cost, we produce a clean fuel at the same price as fossil, while also solving the atmospheric CO2 and water supply chain issues for hydrogen and eFuel producers, enabling these companies to obtain feedstocks at equitable prices.

WT: Please give us an overview of Aeon Blue and the stage you are currently at with your start-up.

Meadow: Our technology is at Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL5), and we are building our pilot next year in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We are also in early development on several commercial facilities in Canada and Europe. Our solution has secured extensive technical validation from national labs, science organizations, and industry, we’ve been granted 7 patents, and are alumni of 8 accelerators that have helped to launch Aeon Blue in the industry.

WT: Tell us about team talent.

Meadow: Diversity is key to our team's strength. We are a blend of younger and older generations from the northern and southern hemispheres, with expertise ranging from managing large infrastructure projects to technology design to storytelling. Building a startup, especially one based in hard tech, requires diverse creativity. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You must have insatiable persistence and tenacity, a comfort with taking personal and professional risk, followed by the ability to laugh and keep going, even when it looks like all odds are against you. Our team has put everything on the line to bring this company to its fullest potential. We've succeeded through our willingness to learn, to adapt, and to stay true to the convictions that matter.

WT: Why have you chosen to locate in Nova Scotia

Meadow: Our journey to Nova Scotia began when we were contacted by the Canadian federal government as they heard that we had a hydrogen and carbon capture technology. We were already looking at Atlantic Canada as a potential place to build in the future due to the incredible wind resource, geographic positioning, infrastructure, workforce, and climate-positive government. We worked with the provincial government (InvestNS) and the Verschuren Centre in Sydney to locate where the best location would be for our first plant. We made the move to Cape Breton and transitioned into a Canadian company in 2024.

WT: Tell us about your plans for the pilot and the outlook for the first commercial plant.

Meadow: The pilot will be a ~30 tonnes/yr eSAF (sustainable aviation fuel) plant, while also capturing surplus carbon dioxide from air, producing ultrapure water and eRocket Fuel. This plant will operate for a couple years, we plan to offer tours and demonstrations.

Our first commercial plant will produce ~3,000 tonnes/yr eSAF, along with the same co-products, with a carbon impact (storage + fossil prevention) of at least 20,000+ tonnes/yr. This plant will go online around 2028, with plans for expansion by 2030. Canada’s first offshore wind project, called “Wind West”, is being planned around Nova Scotia. Aeon Blue is analyzing the opportunity to power our expansions going into the 2030s.

WT: Congratulations on being named as one of the Foresight 50, Canada's Most Investible Companies!

Meadow: Thank you! Canada offers the world's most supportive environment for early-stage cleantech companies, and Foresight plays a major role in the ecosystem. It’s an honor to be included.

Moving to Canada was the best decision we could have made for our company.

WT: Describe how the technology works. How does the Aeon Blue process differ from traditional methods?

What is the environmental potential of your process?

Meadow: Our seawater-to-fuels technology is based in saltwater electrochemistry. We use seawater to split hydrogen while capturing CO2 from air (DAC), all in the same energy step. It’s an integrated process that also produces ultrapure water from seawater (we extract the salts for our process) and makes sodium chlorate (eRocket Fuel). Each facility will be different, but general guidelines is that for every 1 tonne of eFuel we make, we impact ~10 tonnes of CO2 through a mix of removal + prevention.

Our primary differentiation lies in our choice of electrolyzer. The majority of hydrogen in the market is being produced with freshwater resources. We use a saltwater electrolysis method that is reliant on salts from the ocean, or brine water, or even produced water. This eliminates use of freshwater streams while also producing a valuable portfolio. While other companies simply produce one product (hydrogen, eFuels, or carbon capture), our economic strength is due to our comprehensive platform. This mirrors traditional manufacturing—one facility, multiple products. Aeon Blue is a modular hybrid solution, and our co-products serve as feedstocks for the clean fuels industry, so they too can make fuels right alongside us.

WT: What would you like investors to know. What is your business model?

Meadow: Our business model is designed completely around JVs with industry and capital partners. We know our technology better than anyone—how and where it's optimized. And our team has extensive project development and management expertise. What industry needs now are partners who can build projects and deliver clean fuel solutions.

The companies that will lead the energy transition are those producing drop-in fuels at cost-parity, delivering massive carbon impact, and serving as cornerstone feedstock suppliers.

Those are the ones you want to bet on.

WT:What's next?

Next is piloting, then commercialization. Our goal is to impact 5GT of CO2 through removals and prevention by 2050, and to leave this world better than we found it.