Todd Brix, Co-Founder and CEO of OCOchem, said: “The partnership with ADM will help enable OCOchem to bring our CO2 Electrolysis process to a commercial scale and start meeting early customer demand for our carbon-negative, biogenic, sustainable formate products at competitive market prices.”
Kris Lutt, President of Sustainable Materials and Strategic Initiatives at ADM, stated: “We’re pleased to work with OCOchem to advance a high-potential pathway for converting captured CO2 into valuable, carbon-negative molecules. OCOchem has rapidly scaled an impressive CO2 conversion technology that aligns with ADM’s strategy to lead in industrial carbon management and sustainable molecule production. This collaboration represents a strategic step in demonstrating how CO2-derived formates can emerge as cost-competitive, next-generation C1 platform chemical — supporting lower-carbon supply chains and unlocking new value across the bio-based economy.”
Under the agreement, OCOchem will design, deploy, and operate modular Carbon FluX electrolyzer systems at the ADM site. These will convert CO2 and water into carbon-negative formate molecules, replacing fossil fuel-based alternatives. Construction is set to begin later this year, with completion scheduled for the end of 2026.
Both companies also plan to cooperate in building a value chain for formate derivatives such as formic acid, potassium formate, and ethyl formate. These chemicals can be applied in multiple sectors including agriculture, fertilizers, biomass upgrading, water treatment, de-icing, industrial solvents, metal recovery, pharmaceuticals, and fragrances.
Brix added: “As one of the few scaled out modular CO2 conversion facilities in the world, OCOchem’s Carbon FluX Electrolyzer will also demonstrate the economic and technical feasibility to convert large volumes of captured CO2 emissions into value-added liquid organic molecules. This will happen on-site in an existing manufacturing environment, and establish a new, fast, and modular approach to industrial symbiosis, using the most abundant waste product on the planet, CO2, as feedstock.”
The Carbon FluX Electrolyzer features a gas diffusion electrode and a co-current cell design that converts CO2 and water into formate molecules with high efficiency. The electrolyzer cells, each measuring 1.5 m², operate at high current densities, delivering 100% product selectivity and producing no waste.
Since 2020, OCOchem has scaled its electrolyzer technology by 1500 times and quadrupled its performance, creating the world’s largest and highest-performing CO2 electrolyzer cell. The company has also completed a multi-cell stack pilot plant at its research facility in Richland. Early support for its development came from the US Army Research Office, the US Department of Energy, and ARPA-E.
