What if the secret to decarbonizing the hardest-to-abate industries wasn’t buried deep underground, but was floating right in front of our faces?

In the above interview, Steven Bardey, PhD, CTO/co-founder of Aerleum, showcased a technology that sounds like science fiction but is quickly becoming a modular reality: capturing CO₂ directly from the sky and turning it into methanol—the Swiss Army knife of future fuels.

The Integrated “Sponge” Breakthrough

Most Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems are massive, energy-hungry fans that trap carbon for underground storage. Aerleum’s approach is different. They’ve developed a patented “sponge-like” material that captures CO₂ from the air and, within the same reactor, converts it into methanol by injecting hydrogen and applying heat.

As Bardey puts it, this creates a nearly carbon-neutral cycle. By using CO₂ that is already in the atmosphere, the resulting fuel reduces lifecycle emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional fossil fuels.

Why Methanol? The Ultimate Feedstock

While hydrogen is often touted as the “fuel of the future,” methanol (CH₃OH) is far easier to handle. It is:

• Biodegradable and Water-Soluble: Unlike oil, a methanol spill isn’t an environmental catastrophe; it dissolves and degrades in days.
• A “Drop-in” Legend: For the shipping industry, methanol is clean-burning with near-zero sulfur (SO_x) and significantly reduced nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions.
• The Pathway to Jet Fuel: For aviation, methanol serves as a critical intermediate. Through the Methanol-to-Jet (MtJ) pathway, this “air-fuel” can be refined into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatible with existing jet engines.
• A versatile chemical feedstock for producing formaldehyde (resins, adhesives, plastics), acetic acid (paints, coatings, PET plastics), pharmaceuticals, and solvents.

The Hydrogen & Heat Equation

To create this “green” methanol, Aerleum’s process requires two main inputs: low-carbon hydrogen and thermal energy.

The system is engineered for maximum siting flexibility. As Aerleum states on its website, the modular reactors can be co-located directly where low-carbon hydrogen is produced under optimal conditions —whether near renewables, electrolysis hubs, industrial clusters, or any source of cheap, clean energy.

By using hydrogen on-site (typically produced via water electrolysis powered by wind, solar, or other renewables), the technology avoids the high costs and energy losses of long-distance hydrogen transport and compression. This also accelerates the build-out of hydrogen infrastructure exactly where it makes the most economic and climate sense.

The integrated “sponge” reactor additionally needs thermal energy to drive the efficient conversion of captured CO₂ into methanol. While the process pairs naturally with abundant renewable electricity and industrial heat recovery, it can also benefit from high-grade heat sources.

For example, specialized thermal solutions — such as those developed by the French company Otrera (featured in a prior ViodiTV interview at CES 2025) —can provide both low-carbon heat and electricity as a complementary option. Similarly, companies like Valor Atomics have built business models around using Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to supply the carbon-free power and heat needed for industrial-scale synthetic fuels.

This location-agnostic approach means Aerleum plants can be deployed virtually anywhere — next to renewable-rich regions, existing industrial sites, emerging electrolysis hubs, or advanced energy systems — without being tied to any single technology.

The Road to 2030

Aerleum isn’t just staying in the lab. They are currently commissioning a “human-sized” reactor capable of producing 100 kilograms of methanol per month, with plans to scale toward 100,000 tons per year by 2030.

Their business model? Licensing. Rather than building every plant themselves, they aim to give the “Lego blocks” of carbon capture to big refineries and chemical groups, allowing the industry to scale rapidly.

From the deck of a cargo ship to the wing of a trans-Atlantic jet, the future of fuel might just be “Aerleum”—petroleum’s cleaner, air-derived cousin.

[Note: the above text was directed and edited by the author, but written by Google’s Gemini].