CleanO2: ‘Cleaning’ up greenhouse gas emissions with soap
Where does soap come from? It doesn’t appear out of thin air, but a Calgary company has just about done that.
CleanO2 has developed technology that captures greenhouse gas emissions in the heating industry and turns it into commercial grade pearl ash that is used to make soap. They also produce and sell soap using the pearl ash they have collected, from natural body bar soaps, to liquid hand soaps, and even car wash detergents.
“We never intended to be a soap company,” said Jaeson Cardiff, the CEO and co-founder of CleanO2. “It was a marketing tool only.” Next thing they knew, they were cleaning up (pun intended).
HOW IT WORKS
The soap that CleanO2 sells is just a happy byproduct of a revolutionary technology that they have developed to tackle one of the world’s most urgent issues: climate change.
Most greenhouse gas emissions around the world comes from industry. Companies in the oil and gas and transportation sectors are working to reduce their emissions, either by transforming their operations or using solutions such as carbon capture, on a massive scale. But one other major source of greenhouse gas emissions are buildings, specifically due to heating and electricity.
According to the Senate of Canada, “residential, commercial and industrial buildings account for 17 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.” Cardiff was a plumber and gas fitter by trade and had been working in the heating industry for over 20 years. He knew first-hand how much greenhouse gases and wasted heat commercial heating systems gave off.
The innovative Cardiff came up with an idea for how individual gas-fired heating systems could address this. For several years, he worked to create a device that would capture the carbon somehow, using the natural gas furnace in his own home to find a solution.
Jaeson Cardiff, CEO and Co-Founder, CleanO2
Cardiff, along with his team at CleanO2, have created CARBiN-X, a decentralized carbon capture device that can be installed in commercial buildings. When integrated into natural gas-fired commercial heating systems, CARBiN-X recovers carbon dioxide from flue gas which is brought into a reaction chamber with potassium hydroxide, to create a carbonate product (pearl ash, also known as potassium carbonate). Every two weeks or so, CleanO2 collects the pearl ash from each CARBiN-X device which is used to make their soap products. Waste heat is also captured, and then used for preheating water entering hot water tanks, lowering heating costs and increasing overall energy efficiency of the building. CARBiN-X, which is about the size of two refrigerators, allows for micro-scale carbon capture.
The benefits of installing the CARBiN-X device for commercial building owners doesn’t stop at decreasing a carbon footprint, although that is a big one. Recovering wasted heat helps commercial buildings save on energy costs. CleanO2 also offers preventative maintenance on their systems. As an incentive, CleanO2 even shares a portion of the profits from the carbonate byproduct with their CARBiN-X customers.
CleanO2 has been working with soap makers in Alberta including Jill Hawker of All Things Jill, who also owns The Apothecary in Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood. The soap they make using pearl ash from CleanO2 have been selling in large quantities and has been a great marketing tool for the company. Besides playing a direct part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, their soap products also happen to be safe, biodegradable, cruelty-free, and vegan. So, in a way, CleanO2 is a soap company, but it’s because they’ve created groundbreaking technology that took a greenhouse gas and turned it into soap.
But the commercial grade pearl ash byproduct has many more possible applications.
“We picked soap and detergent because it’s tangible,” said Cardiff. The demand for soap and detergent is huge, not just at home, but in public settings, from washrooms to car washes, even laundry operations. Beyond soap, in different concentrations and mixtures pearl ash can also be used in agriculture, or used in pharmaceutical applications, in ceramics, drilling fluids, and even during the wine-making process.
The CARBiN-X device has been installed from condo buildings, to office buildings like that of energy providers ATCO and FortisBC, and in commercial operations by companies such as Lush Cosmetics. “ATCO is a huge supporter of ours,” said Cardiff. “They’ve installed our equipment at some of their properties, they buy our soaps and use them, even at the world-class multi-purpose spots facility Spruce Meadows,” (ATCO is a major partner of Spruce Meadows and the sponsor of the soccer stadium ATCO Field).
CleanO2 now has clients in the US and has garnered a lot of interest in the Asian and European markets too. “If you’re using natural gas as a source of heat, you can use our product,” said Cardiff.
As much as they are a technology company (and also known as a soap company), CleanO2 is also passionate about the education side of their work. “We want to be part of the solution. Maybe it’s not carbon capture, maybe it’s environmental stewardship, hygiene, and energy literacy,” says Cardiff. They even give tours of their pilot locations so that people can see how CARBiN-X works.
“People take for granted their mechanical systems until they break. We want to have people focus on that room,” says Cardiff. “It matters a lot. You want to be warm and have hot water. How do you get people to talk about their mechanical room? You create a bold and imposing piece of technology. That gets people talking.”
CARBiN-X
THE CALGARY WAY
Throughout the growth of CleanO2, Cardiff and his team have spent a lot of their time not just in Calgary, but also in Vancouver and Toronto, and even California. But Cardiff says that Calgary has helped CleanO2 on both their technology, and their business.
“We’re very proud to be a Calgary-based solution,” said Cardiff. “Mindsets are varied by region. What stood out for us is that the grassroots can-do innovative spirit is alive here, and the density of innovative people to collaborate with and help together.”
CleanO2 was part of the first cohort of the Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies (CDL-Rockies), which works with startups with scalable, science-based innovation. CDL-Rockies runs out of the University of Calgary. “I’m a huge fan because of the change it made for us,” said Cardiff. “From the work done with the MBA student we were assigned, with mentorship there to help us steer the ship.” They worked with two of Calgary’s top business minds, Derrick Hunter and Martin Molyneaux, while at CDL-Rockies. “It’s completely different to create a business compared to technology. You need that skillset, and Calgary has a high-calibre business community that is reachable, not snobby.”
Cardiff also wants to inspire other tradespeople like him to be part of Calgary’s innovation ecosystem. “When you survey rooms, most are scientists or engineers are tied to faculty, typical white-collar thinkers. Why not more tradespeople? There’s such a collection of creative tradespeople in the city,” he said. Some suggest to him that he’s a unique breed of innovator. “It’s flattering but I doubt it. Tradespeople are innovators and entrepreneurs – they know how to run businesses.”
Calgary is also known for its good corporate citizens, and CleanO2 is very much a part of that community. CleanO2 is a social enterprise: “a revenue-generating organization whose objective is to have a social impact” (ISED Canada). They also do a lot of community outreach as a company. They are passionate about public education and have had some engagement with school districts in Calgary, Richmond, and Toronto. They even sponsored the Airdrie Science Club’s balloon launch for atmospheric studies. During the pandemic, they donated liquid hand soap to local charity the Mustard Seed, serving individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness, to help staff and their clients keep the virus at bay.
“Calgary has a high-calibre business class that is reachable, not snobby.”
WHAT’S NEXT
When CleanO2 decided to make their own bar soap from the pearl ash as a marketing tool, they started off production in Cardiff’s home. Eventually, they started getting more business for the soap which is when they started working with Jill Hawker on a white label version. The demand for soap from CleanO2 increased so much that they then had to hire their own soap master and have now ordered equipment the increase the volume of soaps and detergents they can manufacture. Ostrem Chemicals in Edmonton has been using CleanO2’s pearl ash to make other products like carwash detergent. CleanO2’s own clients love their soap so much they’re using them in their own buildings and even bringing some of their own to trade shows, because really, who doesn’t like the idea of using soap that helps the environment?
But CleanO2 isn’t shying away from the ‘soap company’ identity. In fact, they would like to become a globally recognized brand of soap and detergents, to fund their research and development goals. They continue to iterate on their technology to keep increasing the carbon captured by CARBiN-X – version 4.0 of the device will be able to reduce emissions by 40 to 50 per cent. While they are working on the commercial side of the industry for now, they are looking at residential applications down the road, and have already created a residential prototype.
CleanO2 is working on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heating systems all the way down to zero. Cardiff is working with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), which also happens to be his alma mater, to help navigate that research.
“When you turn up your thermostat or your hot water heater, and you’re not producing any greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the goal.”