Brineworks: From “Magic Box” to Upgraded Suit | CO₂ + H₂ for E-Fuels

This episode wasn't planned. I was walking through The Drop in Malmö when a table full of brownies, crackers and other food samples caught my attention.Naturally, I stopped.That's how I met Udi, founder and CEO of Carob Way, and discovered a surprisingly interesting story about carob trees, food ingredients and climate-resilient agriculture.We explore how different parts of the carob pod can be turned into ingredients for food manufacturers, what makes the business commercially interesting, and why farmers are looking for crops that can cope with changing growing conditions.We also talk about food, nutrition and the idea of "food as medicine", while getting into the real questions around agricultural water needs, scaling and market adoption.A spontaneous conversation, a few delicious discoveries, and a reminder that sometimes the best stories are the ones you never planned to record.Let's make climate cool again!Bite-Size Climate Tech makes complex climate solutions simple, human, and engaging.Support Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/supportLearn more about Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techHosted by Lydia ChenProduced by Day Zero ProductionFollow Bite-Size Climate Tech:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bite_size_climatetechLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/bite-size-climate-tech/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/02aADu5pkKjlVFGTxUNT5W?si=0b3c9a44c6db453bHave a guest suggestion, partnership idea, or climate tech story we should cover?Write to Lydia at [email protected] Bite-Size Climate Tech is an independent climate technology show making hard ideas easier to understand. Each episode explores one climate solution through plain-English explanations, founder stories, practical business questions, and a little help from CLI, our curious climate mascot.Season 5 asks a simple question:What does it take for climate technology to move from lab to market?Subscribe, share, and support the show if you want more clear, human, and useful climate storytelling.© 2026 Day Zero Production Limited. All rights reserved.

A quick look back at Bite-Size Climate Tech in Malmö: an unexpected cracker tasting, an OpenMIC at Minc, and live conversations at The Drop with NORMA and Phytoform. Plus a very eager animated CLI.We're preparing special conversations from The Drop. Here's a taste of the people, questions and moments behind them.Let's make climate cool again!

What happens when the cement industry starts running short of materials it already uses to replace some of its clinker?Dr Andreas Bremen, CEO & Co-Founder of Co-reactive, joins Bite-Size Climate Tech to explain how carbon mineralisation could create a new supplementary cementitious material from minerals, water and CO₂. We explore the tubular reactor, why reaction speed matters, what the Erkrath demonstration stage was showing, and why a useful product is central to the business case for CO₂ storage.Then comes our 8-Year-Old Challenge: a rocky milkshake, a very long straw and a lot of fizz. We also discuss process water recycling, his next-guest question, and an unexpected shared 2017/Colombia connection.Recorded 3 September 2026. Milestones and future plans are discussed as they stood at the time.More about Co-reactive: https://www.co-reactive.com/#BiteSizeClimateTech #ClimateTech #CarbonMineralisation #Cement #ScienceExplainedBite-Size Climate Tech makes complex climate solutions simple, human, and engaging.Support Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/supportLearn more about Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techHosted by Lydia ChenProduced by Day Zero ProductionFollow Bite-Size Climate Tech:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bite_size_climatetechLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/bite-size-climate-tech/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/02aADu5pkKjlVFGTxUNT5W?si=0b3c9a44c6db453bHave a guest suggestion, partnership idea, or climate tech story we should cover?Write to Lydia at [email protected] Bite-Size Climate Tech is an independent climate technology show making hard ideas easier to understand. Each episode explores one climate solution through plain-English explanations, founder stories, practical business questions, and a little help from CLI, our curious climate mascot.Season 5 asks a simple question:What does it take for climate technology to move from lab to market?Subscribe, share, and support the show if you want more clear, human, and useful climate storytelling.© 2026 Day Zero Production Limited. All rights reserved.

Why do we make nitrogen fertilizer, let some of its value end up in wastewater, spend effort removing it, and then manufacture more?Margaret Lumley, Founder & CEO of Roca Water, joins Bite-Size Climate Tech to explain how battery-inspired electrodes can selectively recover ammonium from wastewater. Together we follow nitrogen through food and water systems, search for an eight-year-old-friendly soup analogy, and explore why resource recovery might make commercial sense for wastewater operators. Margaret also shares what growing up with California droughts and later experiencing Wisconsin floods taught her about water and climate.Recorded on 6 August 2026. Company milestones are discussed as they stood at recording.Bite-Size Climate Tech makes complex climate solutions simple, human, and engaging.Support Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/supportLearn more about Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techProduced by Day Zero Production

What do bananas, shampoo bottles, clothes and aviation fuel have in common?Ethylene.It is one of industry’s most useful building-block molecules, and today it is largely made from fossil feedstocks.In this episode of Bite-Size Climate Tech, I speak with Alex Ip, Co-founder & CEO of CERT Systems, about a different route: using CO₂, water and electricity to make ethylene through direct CO₂ electrolysis.Alex explains the science with Lego blocks and an “electrolyser sandwich,” then we get into the Season 5 question: why could this be good business?We talk about why making the same drop-in molecule matters for existing industrial processes, modular production, moving from lab proof towards commercial demonstration, the pathway towards cost competitiveness, and what winning Tencent CarbonX could unlock for CERT.And underneath all of it is a bigger idea: future generations shouldn’t have to give up useful materials, mobility or quality of life to solve climate change. The challenge is finding a better way to make them.🎙️ Bite-Size Climate Tech Season 5: Climate Tech Is Just Good BusinessLearn more about CERT Systems:https://co2cert.com/Explore Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techSupport Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/support

What if hempcrete could pour like pancake batter?In this episode of Bite-Size Climate Tech, Lydia talks with Dr. Marc Maguire, Chief Scientific Officer at Bison Biocomposites, about Biofill, a flowable hemp-based insulation designed to make a traditionally labor-intensive material fit more easily into modern construction.Along the way, we somehow get from snowballs to shaving cream, pancake batter and finally an ice-cream sandwich, all in the name of explaining what happens inside a wall.Marc also gets into the harder commercial questions: why conventional insulation is so difficult to replace, what “better, faster and cheaper” really means, and what happens to the hemp supply chain if construction demand starts to scale.Plus, in Pass It On, we talk AI, engineering and why expertise still matters when the machine sounds convincing.Season 5: Climate Tech Is Just Good Business.Support Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/supportLearn more about Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techHosted by Lydia ChenProduced by Day Zero ProductionFollow Bite-Size Climate Tech:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bite_size_climatetechLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/bite-size-climate-tech/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/02aADu5pkKjlVFGTxUNT5W?si=0b3c9a44c6db453bHave a guest suggestion, partnership idea, or climate tech story we should cover?Write to Lydia at [email protected] Bite-Size Climate Tech is an independent climate technology show making hard ideas easier to understand. Each episode explores one climate solution through plain-English explanations, founder stories, practical business questions, and a little help from CLI, our curious climate mascot.Season 5 asks a simple question:What does it take for climate technology to move from lab to market?Subscribe, share, and support the show if you want more clear, human, and useful climate storytelling.© 2026 Day Zero Production Limited. All rights reserved.

What if the climate mission stays the same, but the technology gets a better suit?In this episode, Lydia catches up with Joe Perryman from Brineworks to unpack how the company evolved from its earlier ocean-based concept into a land-based system built around a closed saltwater loop.Brineworks now produces two key feedstocks for synthetic fuels: sustainable CO₂ and green hydrogen.But this conversation is about more than one company’s technical upgrade. It is also about a broader shift in climate tech: from “we should do this because it’s sustainable” to “it’s sustainable, and it can increasingly make sense as good business too.”We cover:why Brineworks moved away from the ocean-based setuphow the land-based system works in plain Englishthe closed-loop saltwater designwhy CO₂ + H₂ matters for e-fuelswhere Brineworks sits in the value chainand why cheap, intermittent renewables change the economicsAs Joe puts it:“It’s sustainable, so we’re gonna do it because it’s the right thing… but it’s also now just getting very cheap.”Explore more:Brineworks: brineworks.techBite-Size Climate Tech / Day Zero Production: dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techVisual note: The CLI animated sequences are simplified educational illustrations based on Joe’s explanation. They are not engineering schematics or literal representations of Brineworks’ exact hardware or process configuration.

Most Bite-Size Climate Tech episodes start with one technology. This conversation became something much bigger.Professor Vikram Yadav happened to be in London, the weather cooperated, and we recorded one of those rare in-person BSCT episodes.We start with intelligent bioprocessing and a deceptively simple question: when does a scientific invention actually become innovation?From there, we explore why climate technologies need to be designed for scale from the beginning, why commercial reality matters alongside scientific performance, and why scientists should be bold enough to ask how their inventions might fail.We also talk about how to bring more talented people into climate work, Vikram’s journey from chemical engineering and oil & gas into biotechnology, the book that helped him see biology as a tool for planetary-scale problems, and why he remains optimistic about the next generation.Vikram is a professor at the University of British Columbia and Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Tydra Labs.One idea became the spine of the conversation:There is a difference between invention and innovation. A breakthrough only becomes innovation when it works in the real world, at scale.Recorded in London, May 2026.Season 5: Climate Tech Is Just Good Business.#ClimateTech #Bioprocessing #Innovation #ScienceCommunication

Cement’s hidden CO₂ problem begins inside the rock itself.Much of cement’s emissions does not come only from the fuel burned in a kiln. The CO₂ is chemically locked inside limestone.Dr. Erin R. Bobicki, co-founder and CEO of CURA, joins Lydia Chen to explain how the company aims to separate that CO₂ before the limestone enters the cement kiln.Using the familiar reaction between vinegar and chalk, Erin breaks down CURA’s electrochemical pre-calcination process: electricity produces acid and base, the acid releases a concentrated stream of CO₂ from limestone, and the remaining calcium can still be used to make cement.They explore:• Why cleaner kiln fuel cannot solve cement’s full emissions problem• How CURA captures CO₂ before the kiln• The volcano experiment that makes the chemistry understandable• CURA’s pathway from laboratory work to paid pilot and commercial deployment• How carbon pricing is changing the economics of cement• The northern Labrador experience that deepened Erin’s commitment to climate• Why the cheapest option must also become the greenest optionCURA says its process could reduce cement-production emissions by up to 85% and manage the carbon at cost parity with conventional cement manufacturing.But the final thought that stayed with Lydia was more personal.Erin has six children, and they are already excited about the technology and the mission behind it.As Erin put it:“The next generation is already on it.”Since this conversation was recorded, CURA has announced that its 5 kg/day mini-pilot is operational:https://curaclimate.com/press/curas-mini-pilot-is-operationalWatch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/c-ggbzQILnoLearn more about CURA:https://curaclimate.com/Explore Bite-Size Climate Tech:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-techSupport Season 5:https://www.dayzeroproduction.com/bite-size-climate-tech/supportFigures, commercial claims, and deployment plans reflect CURA’s statements at the time of recording.Selected visual explanations were created with AI-assisted animation and are intended as conceptual illustrations, not engineering schematics.

Alex Ivanenko is back on Bite-Size Climate Tech.He first joined the show in Season 2 to talk about HyWatts and hydrogen reversible fuel cells. This time, he returns with a new company, The Lithium Company, and a new idea: LIRA, the Lithium Inventory Refill Agent.The simplest version?A protein shake for batteries.In this conversation, Alex explains why some lithium-ion batteries may not be structurally dead, but depleted. We talk about active lithium inventory, battery restoration, the difference between recycling, repurposing, and restoring, and why this could become a good-business answer to replacement pressure.We also talk about validation, commercialization, and why Alex keeps building in energy: because better, cheaper, more effective energy technologies can improve quality of life and expand access to electricity.This is an early-stage story, but it captures the heart of Season 5: climate tech is just good business when it solves a real problem.Note: Some visual explainers in the video version are AI-assisted and illustrative only. They are not technical demonstrations, validated test results, or performance guarantees.