LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the ocean carbon removal company Equatic announced the appointment of Edward Sanders as Chief Executive Officer, the formation of its inaugural Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) chaired by Professor Emily Carter, and the addition of Dervilla Mitchell to its esteemed Industry Advisory Board (IAB). These leadership additions come at an important time in Equatic’s growth as the company prepares to launch the world’s largest ocean-based carbon removal plant as early as 2026 and tracks toward carbon removal for less than $30 per tonne before the end of the decade.
From his experience steering the company’s operations as Chief Operating Officer, Edward Sanders is appointed into his new role as CEO to drive further growth and expansion. Sanders will lead Equatic in its ambitions to remove carbon dioxide emissions and guide the industry toward decarbonization at the scale, speed, and cost necessary to combat climate change. Sanders has a deep background in climate, aviation, and consulting with experience launching and scaling up commercial and network operations across the Asia-Pacific region for one of the world’s fastest growing airlines. Prior to joining Equatic, he held a leadership position at Boston Consulting Group. Sanders received an MBA from Stanford University and an economics degree from Melbourne University.
“Equatic has built a carbon removal process centralized in the ocean for peak efficiency and cost effectiveness—while simultaneously producing green hydrogen. I am honored to be appointed as CEO, joining the brightest minds in science to continue to hit major Equatic milestones and near gigaton-scale carbon removal,” says Sanders. “If we as an industry want to create viable solutions for decarbonization at a meaningful scale, we need to be thoughtful about making climate innovations more ‘trivially affordable’ and building more resilient business models.”
Equatic’s first-ever Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) will support Equatic’s Board of Directors, and IAB in its mission to provide high-quality carbon dioxide removal solutions. The new advisory board will offer guidance drawn from their knowledge and expertise in science, technology, policy, and environmental justice. The SAB consists of eight members across academia and the public sector, including:
- Chair Emily Carter, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University
- JR DeShazo, Founding Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA and Dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin
- Menachem Elimelech, Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University
- Lynn Brickett, Carbon Capture Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
- Justin Ries, Professor of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University
- Mark Barteau, Halliburton Chair in Engineering Professor at Texas A&M University
- Niall Mac Dowell, Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at Imperial College London
- Holly Buck, Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo
“The SAB was formed to help showcase Equatic’s dedication to meaningful and responsible advancements in carbon removal and clean energy production,” says Carter. “As the leading technical and scientific minds in their fields, we’re eager to come together to advance electrochemical engineering solutions, guide policy development, and mitigate environmental and technical risks of the Equatic solution as it is implemented worldwide.”
Dervilla Mitchell joins the company’s growing Industry Advisory Board (IAB) as an experienced civil engineer and leader at the global firm Arup, where she has held various senior positions, including Director and Deputy Chair. Mitchell has a long-standing reputation as a champion of sustainable engineering practices, specifically in carbon emission reduction for construction and infrastructure projects. The company’s IAB now consists of seven impressive industry leaders beyond Mitchell, including Chair Lord John Browne, Chairman Edward Muller, Catherine McKenna, Peter Relan, Caitlyn Fox, Jérôme Schmitt, and Craig Cogut.
“The experience Dervilla brings in engineering innovation and sustainable design will guide Equatic’s immediate growth plans in Singapore and Quebec, and as the company continues to expand,” says Lord John Browne, the Chair of Equatic’s IAB, the Founder & Executive Chairman of BeyondNetZero and the former Group Chief Executive, BP.
Since Equatic’s commercial launch in 2023, Equatic’s has led two successful pilots in Los Angeles and Singapore and is actively expanding operations with a demonstration plant in Singapore called Equatic-1 and a commercial-scale plant in Quebec. In May, Equatic was named CDR Purchase Prize semifinalist by the U.S. Department of Energy, taking a significant step forward in scaling up their work. In September, Equatic announced the U.S. manufacture of oxygen-selective anodes, a climate breakthrough that unlocks scalable hydrogen production using seawater electrolysis. That same month, Equatic was named a finalist for The Earthshot Prize, a prestigious international recognition designed to discover, spotlight, and scale groundbreaking solutions to repair and regenerate our planet.
About Equatic
Equatic is a carbon removal company leading the industry in combined carbon dioxide removal and green hydrogen generation. Using a patented seawater electrolysis process, Equatic activates and amplifies the ocean’s inherent ability to absorb and store massive amounts of carbon using technology created and developed at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering’s Institute for Carbon Management. Equatic works with industry pioneers, national agencies, and government leadership to scale climate solutions at unprecedented rates. The company sells high-integrity carbon removal credits and is the only ocean-based carbon removal company that measures removal with unprecedented certainty.
Media Contact: press@equatic.tech
