Blue Methane

About Blue Methane

Bluemethane is a UK-based company founded in 2021 by CEO Louise Parlons Bentata and CTO Néstor Rueda Vallejo that is focused on capturing methane emissions from water sources and converting them into renewable energy. The company was born after Rueda Vallejo, an engineer with a background in hydropower, was surprised to learn that hydropower reservoirs emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases. He developed a low-energy method to capture this methane. Parlons Bentata, a marketing strategist with a passion for sustainability, connected with Rueda Vallejo during a virtual climate tech fellowship in 2021, and they co-founded the company in May of that year, initially without having met in person. They received early backing from the Carbon13 venture builder program.

Bluemethane's core technology is a modular, physical separation system that uses turbulence and pressure changes to release dissolved methane from water without the use of chemicals, membranes, or heat. This energy-efficient process, which consumes less energy than it captures, separates the gas from the liquid, allowing the captured biogas (a mix of methane and carbon dioxide) to be used as a source of renewable energy. This not only prevents a potent greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere but also creates a new revenue stream for clients and improves their operational efficiency.

The company serves a range of clients, including municipal wastewater and bioresource managers, industrial wastewater operators, anaerobic digester plant owners, and hydropower and reservoir managers. Their business model involves several approaches, including selling their technology, offering 'methane capture as a service' where a third party owns the on-site equipment, and providing a paid methane measurement service to assess biomethane potential before deploying their technology. The revenue streams come from the value of the biogas itself and from clean energy credits. Bluemethane has active commercial-scale projects in the UK, including partnerships with Anglian Water and ReGenEarth, and is engaged with six of the eleven water companies in the country. The company has secured various grants to advance its technology and research, including from Cranfield University, the Global Methane Hub, and the Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF).