This process also enhances natural gas sweetening processes and will vastly increase access to worldwide natural gas reserves.

“A scientific breakthrough discovered at the University of Colorado has spawned a new clean-tech company,” said ION Engineering CEO Alfred “Buz” Brown. “Using new solutions based around ionic liquid technology, we’ve developed the most economical way for the global energy industry to remove CO2 and other contaminants from fossil fuel power plant emissions and raw natural gas.”

“Congratulations to ION, whose partnership with Colorado’s academic research institutions and private investors has created a commercial solution to one of the world’s biggest energy and environmental problems,” said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. “ION’s technological advancements in clean, modern energy are helping to build Colorado’s New Energy Economy.”

ION Engineering founders Jason Bara and Dean Camper developed the ionic liquid-based solutions while postdoctoral fellows at CU-Boulder.

Chris Gabriel, currently a scientist at CU-Boulder, will also join ION to provide expertise in ionic liquid synthesis and chemical analysis. CEO Brown has an extensive background in science and business management, and university start-ups and early stage investing.

In addition to business advisory and networking support from the CU Technology Transfer Office and the Boulder Innovation Center (BIC), Professors Richard D. Noble and Douglas L. Gin of CU’s Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, and also inventors, serve as advisors. Gin is well known for his work in polymers and organic chemistry and Noble has over 30 years’ experience in gas separation technology. Both are recent recipients of CU-Boulder’s Inventor of the Year Award. The BIC also facilitated initial connections that brought Buz Brown and Industry Strategist Linda Olsson to the ION team.

“Our process has the potential to change the way a $50 Billion market does business,” said Brown. “We’re applying a radically new solution that can be incorporated into existing gas processing infrastructure, and are already receiving tremendous industry feedback. ION’s solution will be a boon to natural gas processing worldwide as the industry moves to develop more highly sour gas reserves.”

ION Engineering is a US based developer of carbon capture and emissions control technology.