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The New Paradigm

CO2Rail deploys a proprietary system powered by existing train regenerative braking energy to achieve both low-cost rail decarbonization [CCS] and rail-based Direct Air Capture [DAC] carbon removal by capitalizing and leveraging well-developed rail infrastructure and networks.

Twin Solutions

Ambient Air DAC

Our Direct Air Capture (DAC) system can sit in any configuration on a train and uses energy from a regenerative braking system to capture carbon from ambient air.

Diesel Exhaust CCS

Our proprietary LETA (Locomotive Exhaust Transfer Array) and emissions mitigation system can effectively capture up to 70% of of a diesel locomotive’s exhaust.

Primary Advantages

Vetted & Peer Reviewed

Discover what makes CO2Rail unique

Understand the proprietary technology behind CO2Rail's direct air carbon capture via this peer-reviewed research paper.

SEE RESEARCH PAPER

Expert Insights & Rankings

#1 of 25 Top Rail Companies and Startups in United States in February 2025

>>> F6S – "25 top Rail Companies and Startups in United States in February 2025" - February 2025 - Link

#14 of Top 15+ Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage Companies

>>> Energy Theory – "Top 15+ Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage Companies" - April 2024 - Link

Top 20 Direct Air Capture Companies In 2023

>>> Carbon Herald – "Top 20 Direct Air Capture Companies In 2023" - May 2023 - Link

"CO2Rail is poised to revolutionize carbon capture."

>>> Advanced Science News - “Carbon Negative Earthshot” takes aim at atmospheric carbon dioxide" - November 2021 - Link

"The big question is, which of the carbon capture technologies can deliver on their promises? Without partiality, we have placed our bets on a freshly minted start-up known as CO2Rail."

>>> Geoffrey Ozin - Government of Canada Research Chair in Solar Fuels, Distinguished University Professor, University of Toronto, Albert Einstein Award Recipient

"I believe CO2Rail is one of the few approaches to CDR that has a chance of succeeding as it looks at a system rather than an individual operation."

>>> Peter Styring - Professor of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry at The University of Sheffield, Co-Founder and Director at CCU International

"One of 2021’s most exciting and impactful developments in science"

>>> Advanced Science News – "Innovative Science in 2021" - January 2022 - Link

"CO2Rail is a bold, visionary concept for distributed CDR with significant potential."

>>> Roland Dittmeyer – Professor, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

Recognized by Hundreds of Media Outlets Across the Globe

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Energy, Energy, Energy

Our Disruptive Advantage? ...Energy

Every year, globally running trains, both diesel and electric, dissipate about 420 tWh of braking energy as rheostatic waste heat. This is more than all but 10 countries use annually, over 4x the annual output of the Three Gorges Dam in Chinia, and 105x the annual output of the Hoover Dam in the US.

Until now, this enormous amount of electrical energy has been wasted in most rail operations. CO2Rail uses it to power CO₂ removal from both ambient air and emissions from diesel-powered trains.

Key Features

Current Gigaton CO₂ Removal Potential

If as many CO2Rail cars were built as the global rail networks could easily power in currently produced (but wasted) regenerative braking energy, today's CO₂ removals could exceed one billion tonnes per year. As DAC efficiencies improve and global rail utilization increases, CO2Rail's long-term potential could hit 50%-60% of the IPCC's recomended CDR target of 10 GT/year.

Leverages Existing Infrastructure

Deploying CO2Rail requires only minor adjustments to a railroad's operations and a locomotive's current electrical system – making it an effective short-term decarbonization method that operates on already built infrastructure that would stretch to the moon almost four (4) times if laid end to end with railcars and locomotives that would circle the equater three (3) times.

Regenerative Braking Self-Powered

CO2Rail uses the enormous amount of electrical energy generated from stopping or slowing an entire heavy, fast moving train many times per day to power CO₂ removal from both ambient air and emissions from diesel-powered trains. Energy that currently gos to wast in most trains.

Carbon footprint icon

Best Use Case for Train RBE

Compared to alternative uses of a train's ennormous regenerative braking energy that currently goes wasted in most trains, such as additive propulsion or HEP utilization, CO2Rail is over 5X better at carbon mitigation per unit of energy recovered.

No Fixed Land Footprint

Compared to alternative large-scale direct air capture methods, CO2Rail has practically no fixed land based footprint. A footprint that could be as large as the entire country of Portugal to achieve the IPCC's recomended CDR target of 10 GT/year_CO2e with other DAC methods.

Modular & Upgradable Design

CO2Rail's system is sorbent agnostic and provides a versitile platform for a suite of DAC and CCS technologies, both existing and anticipated. Whether electro, temperature, pressure, humidity or other types of sorbent, both solid and some types of liquid, the CO2Rail platform can deploy at scale and remain easily upgradable.

Scalable Approach

Rail operators can scale our solution as far and wide as they need – taking on additional railcars as needed to decarbonize their operations and maximizing DAC CDR removals according to their specific regenerative braking energy generation projections.

Highest Quality Product

All CDR methods are not equal. Direct air capture represents the highest quality CDR method available thereby increasing the monetary value of both CO2Rail's prodoct ultimately sequestered and it's off-take agreements.

Lowest Cost Method to Decarbonize

By tapping into the currently wasted regenerative braking energy generated from already running trains moving freight and passengers trains, CO2Rail is able to significant lower the cost of DAC, with high-confidence projections ultimately aiming for a cost of <$50/tonne_CO2e.

Best-In-Class CAPEX & ROI

With the lowest per unit CAPEX investment requirement compared to other solutions - with most required deployment infrastructure already having been built - and the highest potential margins, CO2Rail projects mid-term ROI that is measured in dozens of months, not dozens of years.

Pre-Built Scalability

> 1 GT CO₂ removals possible

CO2Rail has the potential to achieve the Gigaton scale of carbon removal annually if just 50% of the world’s wasted train braking energy was leveraged for Direct Air Capture. Utilizing infrastructure already in place allows CO2Rail to scale at a pace like no other solution.

CO2Rail is Unlocking Carbon-Negative Rail

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