HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Monday that CREW Carbon, a carbon dioxide (CO2) removal company based in New Haven, was named “Innovator of the Month.” CREW’s technology uses naturally occurring minerals to absorb and remove CO2 produced during wastewater treatment while making the treatment process more effective, benefiting both local communities and their natural environments. Their innovative approach, which enables CO2 removal and permanent storage that is quantifiable and scalable, has led to partnerships with local water resource recovery facilities and generation of high-quality carbon removal credits for the Frontier Climate Fund and other customers.

“Tackling the climate crisis requires creativity. CREW’s promising approach offers a new way to safely repurpose naturally available minerals into practical tools that remove and store carbon dioxide from wastewater. Their eco-friendly weathering technology is moving us closer to achieving our climate goals by speeding up a process that would otherwise take millions of years, and I look forward to seeing their impact in our state continue to grow,” said Murphy.

“Robust carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas removal is needed, and needed rapidly, to limit the effects of climate change and to meet our climate goals,” said Dr. Joachim Katchinoff, CREW Co-Founder and CEO. “We are thrilled that Senator Murphy continues to be an advocate for climate action and are proud that CREW’s measurable, permanent, and co-beneficial carbon dioxide removal technology has been recognized by Senator Murphy. Having researched the global carbon cycle for a decade, it’s imperative that we deploy technologies like ours to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a way that is highly measurable, permanent, and affordable. CREW’s approach has identified that water resource recovery facilities, where trillions of microbes remove pollutants from wastewater including carbon, are one of the best locations to make positive climate impact happen. Our technology speeds up the same reactions that control greenhouse gas levels on Earth using minerals to soak up and lock in CO2 from the wastewater treatment process. This country has spent decades building amazing wastewater treatment infrastructure to keep our environment safe; now, with CREW’s technology, we can work with utility and industrial partners to supplement their treatment processes in a way that can measurably remove CO2 at scale while enabling safe and efficient wastewater treatment.”

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

###