Stephen Beaton, a former U.S. Air Force officer, embarked on a new mission after his military tenure—founding a company focused on creating liquid fuels. Inspired by national security concerns post-September 11, Beaton's career in the Air Force involved leading research projects and ensuring the quality of fossil fuels. This experience laid the groundwork for his innovative startup, Circularity Fuels.
Circularity Fuels has found a niche in the production of lab-grown diamonds and methane by combining hydrogen with carbon from CO2. The company's process is notably efficient, using 40% less energy compared to other CO2-to-fuel methods. This efficiency allows Circularity to produce 99.9999% pure methane at pilot scale more cost-effectively than traditional fossil fuels.
"Fuel is a commodity. It’s very cheap. The fossil fuel industry has had 150 years to really optimize for scale and cost," said Stephen Beaton.
Despite not yet being able to compete directly with most fossil fuels, Circularity Fuels sees potential in high-margin markets. Methane, a key product of their process, typically outprices natural gas significantly, selling from 100 to 300 times the price of its fossil counterpart—between $40,000 and $80,000 a ton. Even with current hydrogen prices ranging from $5,000 to $7,000 a ton, Circularity remains profitable.
"That methane typically sells anywhere from 100 to 300 times the price of natural gas," Beaton explained.
Circularity’s unique approach has attracted $4.9 million in grants and awards from prestigious organizations such as ARPA-E, the California Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation, and Stanford TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy. Additionally, the company was incubated at DCVC, where Beaton serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence. DCVC also provided pre-seed funding to help launch this innovative venture.
Beaton envisions scaling up Circularity’s concepts to produce methane, synthetic natural gas, and other products on a larger scale. The company’s reactor technology holds promise for transforming the energy landscape if successfully scaled.
"We envision taking those same concepts and scaling them up for methane, natural gas, synthetic natural gas, as well as other products," Beaton stated.
The challenge remains substantial; however, Beaton is optimistic about Circularity’s future. The company’s strategy of initially targeting high-margin products mirrors the "Tesla Roadster approach"—focusing on luxury items before transitioning to broader markets.
"Your first product should be one that is like a high-margin luxury product — the Tesla Roadster approach. But ideally, it can’t be too far off of the path to making the fuel," Beaton noted.
Leave a Reply