What is the name of your organization?
Helix Carbon
What is the name of your solution?
Helix Carbon
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Helix Carbon can eliminate emissions in the iron industry by upcycling waste CO2 into carbon-neutral feedstocks, no carbon capture required.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Cambridge, MA, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
USA
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Primary ironmaking for steel production is one of the largest emissions sources globally, responsible for over 2 gigatons of CO₂ annually. This is approximately 7% of global emissions. While there are some theoretical approaches to decarbonizing steelmaking, almost universally these strategies focus on replacing existing infrastructure with new processes. There is no viable solution for decarbonizing the multiple hundreds of operating plants today. Retrofitting these plants is essential to achieving climate targets, yet existing carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions are costly, land-intensive, and often fail to provide economic value.
Without a scalable solution for incumbent iron and steel plants, the industry will remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades, delaying critical emissions reductions. Moreover, industrial emissions disproportionately affect communities near manufacturing hubs, worsening air quality and public health. The lack of cost-effective carbon utilization pathways also limits economic incentives for industries to transition to low-carbon alternatives.
What is your solution?
At Helix Carbon, we have developed a novel co-electrolysis system to simultaneously reduce both CO2 and H2O into a CO/H2 blend that is chemically identical to the natural gas-based syngas used at iron plants today. The transformational aspect of our technology lies in our unique catalysts and catalytic anchoring system, which give us the ability to utilize low-concentration CO2 streams directly from industrial flue gas without the need for separate capture processes. Our approach is to place an electrolyzer that upcycles industrial flue gas on site, reinjecting it into the iron furnace for a closed-loop system that produces carbon neutral iron. Our system is modular, scalable, and can work intermittently to match windows of cheap renewable power. Unlike competing decarbonization approaches, this is a solution for existing plants and that gives ironmakers a competitively priced low carbon syngas source and emissions reduction.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Helix Carbon’s technology will drive meaningful change for communities historically burdened by industrial pollution, particularly those located near heavy manufacturing hubs. Industrial facilities have long been concentrated in low-income and marginalized communities, exposing residents to high levels of air pollution linked to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular issues, and other serious health conditions. By enabling existing iron and steel plants to cut emissions without requiring disruptive infrastructure changes, our solution reduces harmful pollutants while maintaining local economic stability.
Additionally, Helix Carbon supports a just transition by creating pathways for workers in carbon-intensive industries to remain employed as their facilities decarbonize, rather than facing job losses from plant closures or relocations. We are also committed to fostering diversity within our company and the broader climate workforce by prioritizing hiring from underrepresented groups and partnering with organizations that support women, youth, and minority groups in STEM. By reducing emissions, improving public health, and promoting inclusive economic opportunities, we ensure that the benefits of industrial decarbonization are widely and equitably shared.