The future is knocking, and it demands solutions. Net-zero isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a survival strategy. But the road to a carbon-free world is filled with potholes. Traditional carbon capture technologies? Too expensive. Too bulky. Too difficult to scale. And the worst part? Many rely on chemical solvents that degrade over time, creating hazardous waste. Enter RepAir Carbon, an Israeli startup rewriting the rules of carbon capture with an elegant, scalable, and affordable solution.

Founded in 2020, RepAir Carbon is the brainchild of some serious innovators. Chairman Yehuda Borenstein, a serial entrepreneur, has a track record of building disruptive tech startups, including LIGC, MataGene, Carbonade, and NitroFix. CEO Amir Shiner steers the ship with a keen focus on commercialization. CTO Dr. Ben Achrai leads the R&D, while Professor Yushan Yan brings the academic firepower—his patented innovations from the University of Delaware form the backbone of RepAir’s tech. Their mission? To make carbon capture efficient, affordable, and sustainable at the gigaton scale.

Forget the old-school, energy-hungry carbon capture plants. It’s the same idea as the machines that suck water from air. They require an enormous amount of energy for what they do making the endeavor almost pointless. RepAir’s electrochemical carbon capture system is a game-changer. Unlike conventional methods, it ditches solvents altogether, slashing operating and capital costs while eliminating waste. The process is fully electric—no heat required—meaning it can run on renewable energy with minimal environmental impact.

The numbers are staggering: RepAir’s solution uses 70% less energy than traditional carbon capture (0.6MWh/tCO2). It operates with a carbon footprint of less than 5%, making it one of the cleanest capture methods available. And, crucially, it’s scalable—a modular design allows for mass production and seamless integration into existing industrial sites.

Power Moves: Shell, Mitsubishi, and More

RepAir isn’t just talking the talk—it’s signing major deals. The company recently inked an agreement with Shell US Gas and Power and Mitsubishi Corporation to develop a large-scale carbon removal project in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Europe, RepAir Carbon US Inc. has joined forces with C-Questra to launch the EU’s first onshore carbon removal project in Grandpuits, France. This initiative is about more than carbon capture—it’s about local job creation and sustainable infrastructure development.

But that’s not all. RepAir is tackling diluted point source emissions (1%-5% CO2 concentration)—a segment that could bring in multi-million-dollar contracts. Most carbon capture tech struggles with low-concentration CO2 streams, but RepAir’s system is tailor-made for this challenge, opening up a massive new market.

Funding and Expansion

Tech like this doesn’t come cheap, but investors are paying attention. In December 2022, RepAir closed a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Extantia Capital and joined by Equinor Ventures, Shell Ventures, and Zero Carbon Capital. Before that, a $1.5 million seed round in 2021 got the ball rolling. The capital is fueling expansion, R&D, and global partnerships.

With headquarters in Yokneam Illit, Israel, and operations extending to the U.S. (Florida) and Europe, RepAir is positioning itself as a global leader in carbon capture. The vision? A world where CO2 is pulled from the air efficiently, affordably, and at a scale that makes a real impact.

The carbon capture space is heating up. Companies like Carbon Clean, Captura, Charm Industrial, and Agreena are all vying for dominance, each bringing unique solutions to the table. But while others focus on costly infrastructure or niche applications, RepAir’s lean, scalable, and cost-effective model puts it in a league of its own.

Achieving a net-zero future is impossible without carbon capture. But until now, the solutions have been too expensive, too complicated, or too slow to scale. RepAir Carbon is proving that there’s a better way—one that’s ready for the real world. The question isn’t if this technology will transform the industry. It’s when.

::RepAir

The post RepAir Carbon: The Game-Changing Carbon Capture Tech Set to Revolutionize Net-Zero Goals appeared first on Green Prophet.

The global climate crisis, mainly generated by the biggest fossil fuel corporations in the world, is seriously aggravating the already extensive and heavy set of human rights violations caused by this same industry, warns a report released this Friday, February 7th, by 350.org. The whole report can be found here (links to PDF) and offers great research for anyone researching how fossil fuels and coal extraction, like in the case of Turkey, harms human rights. 

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Last year, in November 2012, Shell was met with a surprisingly active Tunisian civil society following statements made ​​by Lamine Chakhari, former Minister of Industry, announcing that Shell had been granted exploration permits, where exploration wells would be expected to be drilled in 2013.

The production sharing agreement between the Tunisian Company of Petroleum Activities (ETAP) and Shell was concluded without waiting for the results of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study.

Since then, Tunisian environmentalists and various civil society organizations have continued to denounce Shell and the known environmental dangers associated with fracking activities.

On the 8th of December for example, a scientific debate at the National School of Engineers in Monastir took place between Tunisian experts in the field of fossil fuels. Meanwhile government authorities and company representatives have become increasingly elusive about what the future for shale extraction is in Tunisia.

Recent statements from Mohamed Akrout, CEO of ETAP, Ben Rchid Dali, CEO of energy,  Zuhair El Khadi, research director at the institute of Strategic Studies and various economist at the Tunisian Institute of Competitiveness and Quantitative Studies all deny the existence of shale gas drilling in Tunisia.

Sadly they are lying. In depth investigations by Nawaat, an independent group blog run by Tunisians, and leaked documents reveal that over 35 holes have already been drilled in 16 months in an area of ​​6 km squared by various companies such as Perenco, Rigo and Storm Oil Venture, and drilling company Schlumberger.

The confidential documents also reveal long lists of toxic chemicals being used in the multi-stage hydraulic fracturing activities, including practices which disregard warnings against the dumping of chemicals into the environment.

It turns out that SVI and Rigo Oil want, from 2013, to re-inject toxic laden liquids used in fracking back into the ground.

Lets speak facts and numbers: Shell’s Shale extraction in the region of Kairouan

Leaked confidential governments reveal that, in case the exploration phase is successful and production permits are granted, a total of 742 wells spread throughout the Kairouan region will be drilled by Shell for about 50 years.

This gives, on average, one well for every five square kilometers license Kairouan, a little over 2 miles between two wells drilled each month.

With 742 wells x 10 fracks per well x 20 million liters of water per frack = 300 billion liters of water consumed in 50 years.

Tunisia already suffers from issues of water scarcity – how can we even begin to think that shale extraction is sustainable for Tunisia?

For every job created in the shale gas industry in Tunisia, hundreds of agricultural jobs will be lost. It is sufficient to travel the country to see that Tunisia is still heavily dependent on its land for food production. Every day, millions of farmers still plow their land with donkeys and women are bent on their backs harvesting crops.

What will happen to these people if their irrigation waters are polluted or if water scarcity created by Shell and other oil companies prevents them from producing food?

Kairouan is not only situated in one of the most seismic areas in Tunisia but also it sits at the convergence of main groundwater and freshwater sources of mineral water for the country. Compromise of these waters with liquid toxic and carcinogenic fracking is no doubt an enormous ecologic, economic and social disaster in an already water scarce country.  

No country in the world can treat waste water from fracking which are laden with carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and dissolved gases. Tunisia is currently incapacitated to treat waste water for irrigation purposes, let alone deal with contaminated groundwater.

Arguments which state that Tunisia will benefit from shale extraction because it will become energetically independent (Tunisia currently imports expensive gas from Algeria for electricity production) forget that energy self-sufficiency can be garnered through a mix of solar energy, tides, geothermal, bio-oil and wind – resources which Tunisia has plenty of.

Even though these renewable energies have their drawbacks too, the reality of exploitation of shale gas portrays a far grimmer reality for Tunisians. Who will suffer the most? As always, the answer is: the poor, indigenous groups and the environment.

Image of Shale Gas Exploitation Tunisia from Nawaat

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Ironically, the team from Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Men’s College will race their car at a competition hosted by a corporation that has met a lot of resistance for their unsustainable fracking plans in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Shell’s Eco-Marathon slated to take place in Kuala Lumpur between July 4 to 7, 2013 will be attended by a total of five teams from the UAE, as well as a host of international collegiate groups.

HTC’s Dubai Men’s College designed Eco-Dubai 1, a lightweight car that will hopefully travel 1,000 kilometers on one liter of fuel. Half a meter wide, two meters long and half a meter tall, the 25 kg vehicle will be driven by a student who weighs 60kg.

Although he is not expected to go on a diet to improve the car’s performance, the driver Khalifa Awadh is said to fit “snugly” into the pioneering vehicle. The team is preparing to begin testing soon.

Teams from HCT Abu Dhabi and Al Ruwais are working on their own vehicles, are as students from the American University of Sharjah and the American University of Dubai.

And though a competitive spirit is necessary to spur great new designs, The National claims that the five UAE teams are friendly towards one another and even share brainstorming ideas for the competition.

Each will use a unique combination of technologies to bolster fuel efficiency, including everything from electricity to solar energy.

Polytech Nantes University from France holds the record for building a car that traveled 4900 kilometers using only one liter of conventional petrol.

:: The National

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I know it’s a knee-jerk reaction for environmentalists to be against the tar sands, to be against fracking, to be against the oil and gas industry, just like it is reasonable for animal rights activists to be against animal testing in medicine. There are certain “evils” or moral risks we take in this world to help bring us to the next problem in need of solving.  One day there won’t be animals in a biopharma lab, but algorithms doing the dirty work. I am sure of that. But meanwhile if a cancer medicine needs to be tested on an animal to make sure that my dad with prostate cancer stays well, I will opt for the animal’s suffering over my dad. Is that selfish or immoral?

I would never want to go back to the pre-oil, pre-industrial age, but look to and applaud people, researchers, and companies that are trying to make dirty and polluting industries better, like this company Flow Industries making fracking greener – which is making fracking greener at least in theory. Should we therefor discount companies like Shell, now exploring oil in the Arctic, for being a big evil, or laud them for feeding our greedy energy needs, while still trying to make their business a bit greener? Watch the video above. You decide.

The post Walking the Middle Ground as Oil Feeds Our Energy Needs appeared first on Green Prophet.

Shale gas takes us down a dangerous path – Tunisians are battling shale gas proponents who say it is less carbon-intensive and ‘green’

With Tunisians protesting Shell’s shale gas plans and Jordanians set to finalise a deal to build the region’s first oil shale plant by the end of the year, it seems that the region is buying into shale. In Tunisia, shale gas is being marketed as low carbon and more environmentally-friendly but the latest research by scientist shows that it is far from that. Examining emissions in the US after the country began burning less coal due to shale gas production, researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, found that overall emissions had actually gone up. Why? Well, because millions of tonnes of unused coal are being exported to the UK, Europe and Asia.

“Research papers and newspaper column inches have focussed on the relative emissions from coal and gas, “explains Dr John Broderick, lead author on the report from the Tyndall Centre. “However, it is the total quantity of CO2 from the energy system that matters to the climate. Despite lower-carbon rhetoric, shale gas is still a carbon intensive energy source.” US CO2 emissions from domestic energy have declined by 8.6% since a peak in 2005, but researchers warn that more than half of the recent emissions reductions in the energy sector may be displaced overseas by the trade in coal.

Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre notes: “Earlier Tyndall analysis suggests that the role for gas in a low carbon transition is extremely limited, with shale gas potentially diverting substantial funds away from genuinely low and zero carbon alternatives.” So there you have it. Shale gas isn’t the answer to all our prayer – it’s more like a huge distraction from renewables and consequently needs to be ignored.

Jordan’s Oil Shale Plans

Speaking at a news conference, the Jordanian Minister of Finance Suleiman Hafez said the shale deal with an estonian-Malaysian firm Enerfit “will be one of the biggest steps towards the country’s energy independence.” Indeed the project is the first step in a wider programme set to exploit Jordan’s estimated 40-billion-tonne oil shale reserves. Other projects include an initiative to extract 15,000 barrels per day in Karak and the construction of a second, 900MW plant. Enerfit hopes to eventually produce up to 38,000 barrels of shale oil per day. via Jordan Times

For more on shale gas and oil shale in MENA see:

Angry Tunisians Protest Shell’s Shale Plans

Jordan Plunges Itself Into Oil Shale Hell

Greenwash Alert: Shell to fund Environmental Education in Jordan

Image of shale gas road sign via Shutterstock.com

The post Shale Gas and The Ugly Truth: It is NOT Green(er) appeared first on Green Prophet.

Having met strict regulations in the United States and other developed countries that have slowed down their ambitions, Shell has sought to use less developed nations as guinea pigs for an as-yet unproven shale gas extraction technology. But they have met surprise opposition in Tunisia, which boasts a relatively strong civil society despite the rising influence of Islamic extremists.

Dozens of activists from various environmental advocacy groups and other civil organizations gathered yesterday in front of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Energy to protest a budding relationship between the ministry and the energy giant.

Shale gas risks

Whilst shale gas extraction is not a new phenomenon, environmentalists and scientists caution that the process comes with high risk.

“Recent advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made extraction of natural gas from shale formations more technologically and economically feasible,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

“Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting natural gas from highly impermeable rock formations by injecting large amounts of fracturing fluids at high pressures to create a network of fissures in the rock formations and provide the natural gas a pathway to travel to the well for extraction,” they add.

But geologic pressure within the shale formation forces these fluids, called shale gas wastewater that contains high concentration of inorganic and organic chemicals, metals and “naturally occurring radioactive materials.

Improperly discharged or treated, this wastewater can pollute water supplies, a concern shared among Tunisian activists.

Putting lives at risk for profit

Hamma Hammami, secretary general of the Tunisian Worker’s Party, told Tunisia Live that the government’s consideration of Shell’s shale gas plans in the country are both careless and irresponsible.

“The government would put lives at risk in order to profit from the shale gas extraction,” he added.

Although the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Energy, Lamine Chakhari recently told local news that they were planning to sign an agreement with the energy company, a spokesperson for the ministry, Youssef Hachemi, said that no such agreement has yet been signed.

Though Hachemi acknowledged the potential economical benefits, he said that the ministry is working the National Committee for Hydrocarbons to study the company’s proposal and have requested an environmental impact assessment.

Whilst a 2010 US EPA report shows that shale gas releases less greenhouse gas emissions than coal,”recent evidence suggests that methane has a global warming potential (GWP) that is 105-fold greater than carbon dioxide when viewed over a 20-year period and 33-fold greater when viewed over a 100-year period.”

“However, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a preeminent authority on this issue, ascribes a GWP of only 25 to methane over a 100-year period, and only 72 over a 20-year period.“

Meanwhile, “a 2011 study published in Climatic Change Letters controversially claimed that the production of electricity using shale gas may lead to as much or more life-cycle GWP than electricity generated with oil or coal.”

The continuing debate reveals a great deal of uncertainty, although residents of Pennsylvania, where shale gas extraction is well underway, have reported a slew of new health problems since companies started working near their homes.

Tunisia’s civil society

Meanwhile, countries in North Africa and the Middle East, including Egypt and Jordan, which are desperate to meet energy shortfalls, are easy targets for Shell. Unlike the United States, where a host of organizations are well-poised to fight the corporate giant, both these countries have weak environmental movements.

But Tunisia is proving to be harder to manipulate.

“AgriEcoForest, an environmental advocacy group, demanded that the Constituent Assembly order the immediate freezing of any activity related to the exploration and extraction of shale gas and the suspension of the license granted to Shell in the region of Kairouan,” said Achref Gharbi, secretary general of the association, according to Tunisia Live.

He also promised to boycott Shell products if the plans proceed.

The post Angry Tunisians Protest Shell’s Shale Plans appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sadly, even though oil shale is nasty business that contaminates water and land around extraction sites and releases sulfur dioxide, lead and nitrogen oxides into the air, according to the US National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) and scientists have warned that failure to slow global warming now will tip the planet’s climate balance, we’ve seen very little objection to the Kingdom’s goal of burning up its estimated reserves of 40 billion tons.

A pot of oil shale deals

Compared to Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production, Jordan’s oil shale ambitions are silly: whereas Saudi produced 9.2 million barrels per day in 2008, GOSH will produce 50,000 barrels of oil shale over the next decade from a site in Al Attarat, with 8,000 of that set to be extracted and burned within the next two years.

Yet the Ministry has cooked up a hole pot of oil shale deals, according to the Jordan Times, which should be of serious concern not only to Jordanians, but all of us who worry about climate change.

An Estonian/Malaysian consortium is working on a 460MW oil shale plant south of Amman that could be online as soon as 2016. Another project there is expected to push out as much as 35,000 tons of oil shale per day.

Shell is working on “experimental technology” in the eastern desert, probably the same technology Israeli activists have fought for the last two years, which will produce 40,000 barrels.

And finally, a joint British and Jordanian group are also cheerfully preparing to produce 15,000 barrels of oil a day at a site near Karak.

Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming

Many news organizations have reported that oil shale technology has been proven, but governments in the western United States, which is sitting on one of the world’s largest reserves of oil shale, have delayed extraction for decades since company’s have failed to provide proven safeguards.

Not only does oil shale threaten to contaminate the immediate environment, but the NRDC reports that greenhouse gas emissions from oil shale are almost double that from conventional crude oil.

The Worldwatch Institute sited a Rand Corporation report which shows that an oil shale production level of 100,000 barrels a day will emit 10 million tons of GHGs into the atmosphere, seriously imperiling our already-hot planet.

And yet, near-silence on the Jordan front. Silence.

Image credit: German open pit mine, Shutterstock (for illustrative purposes only)

The post Jordan Plunges Itself into a Giant Pit of Oil Shale Hell appeared first on Green Prophet.

A Jordanian oil shale company owned by Shell is funding university courses on the environment

As a global oil and gas company, Shell has a murky history not just environmentally but politically. Yesterday we commemorated the death of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who was murdered for his campaigns against oil companies – and particularly Shell – in Nigeria back in 1995. Now, it has emerged that the oil company is funding university courses on water, energy and the environment in Jordan. What’s more, the funding is through the Jordan Oil Shale Company- a subsidiary of Shell that is currently exploring oil shale.

In the last couple of years Shell has drilled more than 100 oil wells in Jordan and signed an agreement aimed at exploring and potentially producing oil from Jordan’s vast oil shale resources. Although Jordan is relatively resource-poor it is believed to have around 40 billion metric tonnes of oil shale.

Oil Shale Is Environmentally Damaging

Oil shale is a controversial form of oil that is difficult to extract and often involves heating the oil out of reservoirs. It is expensive, energy intensive and damaging to the environment- it has also been linked to water pollution and water shortages.

With this in mind, it is quite hypocritical for an oil shale company to be funding courses on environmental issues and water. Personally, I am a strong believer in leading by example and it’s hard to imagine a Shell oil shale company setting a green example for anyone to follow.

Sustainable Development + Oil Shale= Greenwash?

According to various news reports, the Jordan Oil Shale Company (JOSCo) will be funding around 12 graduation projects at various Jordanian universities at the cost of JD 60,000. The projects will explore vital sectors like energy, water and environment. JOSCo’s general manager Thomas Meijssen told AmmonNews: “We believe in sustainable development principles and we hope that our contribution will help nurture local capabilities in the shale oil industry and other key industries in Jordan.”

Clearly, Shell and JOSCo see no clash between sustainable development and developing the oil shale industry. Or if they do, they think throwing money at the problem will make it go away.

:: Image via Atli Haroarson/flickr.

For more on oil shale and greenwash see:

Israeli Oil Shale Is Still A Possibility

How Do You Stop Greenwashing? Train Better Activist, Of Course

Should Green Corporations Accept Funding From Big Bad Orgaisations?

The post Greenwash Alert: Shell To Fund Environmental Education In Jordan appeared first on Green Prophet.

In memory of the murdered Nigerian environmental activist who campaigned against Shell, we look at the importance of environmental action in the Middle East

On the 10^th of November 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa who had campaigned against the environmental devastation caused to the Niger Delta by oil companies such as Shell, was hanged by the Nigerian military government.

His life was cut short due to his effort to seek justice for the Ogani people who had suffered at the hands of Shell which extracted oil from their lands whilst leaving them with nothing. The battle for the environment goes on today in various shapes and guises all over the world including the Middle East. Over this last year we have seen everything from Iranian activists risking imprisonment and torture to protect salt lake Orumieh, campaigners in Jordan fighting against nuclear power to Israelis battling with the oil companies who want to drill for oil shale in their neighbourhoods.

Hostile Environment for Climate Action

It’s sad that people still have to risk imprisonment to fight for the environment, but the reality is that all over the world people do- not just in the Middle East or Africa but in countries such as the UK and America. Bill McKibben, the American eco-activist who was himself arrested outside the White House for protesting against the Keystone XL pipeline development insists that we must be more confrontational and take more risks for the planet.

However as Karin Kloosterman, Green Prophet editor observed: “Getting arrested in the Middle East doesn’t allow demonstrators the same level of notoriety, like in Canada, or Israel, where it can even be considered cool to go to jail during an environmental protest. In some Middle East countries, activists go to jail and just never come out.”

Time For Arresting Action on Climate Change

I agree with McKibben that we need to be more serious about our activism and give people a real sense of what’s really at stake. We have to be able and willing to see the injustice in all its forms and speak out against it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean putting yourself in a position where you may be arrested- it could mean taking time to speak to your neighbours about climate change, organising a pro-active and creative green campaign, lobbying your local authorities for more action and even supporting other environmentalists and their work.

The Battle Must Go On

Lending solidarity, as Ken Saro-Wiwa did when he worked for years to secure the Ogani people’s rights, is also vital. Back in October, the popular Jordanian blogger at The Black Iris wrote that he couldn’t help but make a connection between Jordan and Shell’s oily misadventures in Nigeria. Shell has drilled more than 100 oil wells in Jordan in only 2 years and signed an agreement aimed at exploring and potentially producing oil from Jordan’s vast oil shale resources. It is estimated that Jordan has around 40 billion metric tonnes of (energy-intensive and polluting) oil shale.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmI3xjZk_y0[/youtube]

Whilst Jordan may be at the start of its journey with Shell, Nigeria is still struggling to come to terms with its own ordeal with the company. A recent report by the UN said that it will cost up to $1 billion and take 30 years to clean up the damage done to Nigeria by decades of drilling and gas flaring by Shell. Which goes to show that whilst Ken Saro-Wiwa may have gone, the fight for the environment- in Nigeria, the Middle East and elsewhere- must continue.

: Image via www.remembersarowiwa.com

For more on environmental action in the Middle East see:

Greenpeace Raises More Questions Over Jordan’s Nuclear Plans

Why I’m Fighting Air-Megeddon

Palestinian Women In Israel: Breaking Gender Stereotypes In Environmental Activism

Turkish Village Goes Off The Grid With Wind Turbine

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