2022 In Review
Dear Friends,
Every time I sit down to write a company update for Dimensional Energy, I’m in awe of the distance traveled between the present moment and letters past.
This go round I’m struck by the staggering growth we’ve seen in the last year, from a small company with six full time employees, a lab at a university and a finalist title from a major innovation prize, to an almost 30 person operation, managing present-day facilities in two states and numerous future projects, producing real products twenty four hours a day, with a 20-year fuel purchase agreement from a major airline.
Today, the carbon transformation sector is white hot, and we are at its very core—as always I am so glad you are here to share the warmth.
Our Growing Team
At the outset of 2022, with just six full time staff members, we had a number of solid successes under our belt—most notably we’d been recognized by XPrize for the viability of our technology, which transforms captured carbon dioxide into the building blocks of sustainable aviation fuel and other products. Now, a little over a year later, we have 27 staff members (a 400% increase!), a suite of consultants and contractors from various professional backgrounds, and a fully operational plant in Tucson, Arizona producing fossil-free hydrocarbons (syncrude) around the clock, seven days a week, with the support of our still-growing team of Operators, many of whom have transitioned to clean energy from the mining and oil & gas industries.
In November of 2022, we officially ‘graduated’ from our first home at the Cornell Center of Life Sciences, and are now constructing our own lab and office space in our hometown of Ithaca, New York. This lab will be fully operational this summer, and will be where we continue to develop new reactor and catalyst technologies for real-world application at our Tucson facility and elsewhere.
Projects & Partnerships
Our crowning achievement of 2022 was undoubtedly the launch of Dimensional Energy’s Tucson Technology Center, our first pilot plant, which we commissioned over the summer, and is now producing gallons of fossil-free paraffinic hydrocarbons (syncrude) daily.
In December, we hosted an on-site ribbon cutting event, where we were joined by Mike Leskinen, President of United Airline Ventures. He spoke to our guests about United's purchase agreement for 300 million gallons of Dimensional Energy’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) over the next 20 years:
“United has made early investments in cutting-edge technologies at all levels of the supply chain, staking out our position as a leader in aviation sustainability and innovation. As the only airline committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without relying on carbon offsets, we recognized that our collaboration with Dimensional would not only help meet our sustainable aviation fuel goals, but could transform the aviation industry.”
Mike Leskinen
President of United Airline Ventures
Hear more from Mike Leskinen and our other speakers here.
The event, and our technology’s proof of concept, captured the attention of Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, among others. We are still riding this wave of attention and are planning to offer more site tours, press conferences and opportunities for local partnerships in Arizona soon.
Beyond Tucson, our next project is a joint venture with Lafarge Canada, a major cement producer, and Svante, a carbon capture specialist firm, to create a point source carbon utilization pilot just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, to be commissioned in late 2023.
“Dimensional’s technology allows us to progress with carbon capture where there are no sequestration options by producing a commercially viable product which will not only drive down emissions in hard to abate sectors like cement, but also contribute to reduction in transportation emissions from the use of fuel.”
Stephanie Voysey
Senior Sustainability Manager at Lafarge, Canada
Looking ahead to the coming years, we have signed an agreement to develop a commercial-scale plant with Seneca Holdings, whose purpose is to pursue non-gaming related investment and development opportunities to diversify and strengthen the Seneca Nation’s economy. The 200-barrel-per-day facility will be built in Niagara Falls, New York. We expect to break ground next year, in 2024.
In recent news, we’ve just made our next sale to a company that will use our product to create food-grade supplements. More on this soon!
Our Technology
From novel reactor designs, to proprietary catalysts, to robust upstream, on-site and downstream integrations, our work revolves around the research, development and implementation of intellectual property at the forefront of fossil-free hydrocarbon synthesis. We have a detailed roadmap for improvements to our reactors and catalysts and have recently hired a Senior Vice President of Intellectual Capital, John Brenner, to ensure our IP is safeguarded and to secure patents for our inventions.
For an in-depth look at Dimensional Energy’s present-day, state of the art facility, check out the virtual tour of our Tucson Technology Center. There you can learn about our processes and see all that goes into the production of fossil-free hydrocarbons.
Funding the Future
As is the case with most revolutionary endeavors, Dimensional Energy’s work requires money. We have secure funding for the next three years from the US Department of Energy in the form of grants from the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
Now, as our horizons continue to expand we are opening a $20M Series A round, which will provide funds for moving ahead with significant technology developments and sales across 2023 and 2024.
All of this exciting news is possible thanks to your continued support. Please continue following our progress, cheering us on, spreading the word, investing in us if you can, and joining us in spirit as we work together to create a beautiful and thriving future for the planet and its people for generations to come.
Together, we will do this.
Live long and prosper,
Jason Salfi and the entire Dimensional Energy team
