SK Materials (CEO Lee Yong-wook), a materials technology specialist, has invested in equity and signed a strategic partnership with Ion, a US company with leading carbon capture technology, contributing to global carbon neutrality through continued investment in eco-friendly businesses following 8 Reverse.


SK Materials announced on the 2nd that it has invested in the US company ION Clean Energy (hereinafter referred to as ION) and entered into a strategic partnership.

With this equity investment, SK Materials has secured exclusive rights to use ION's carbon capture technology in Korea and the Asia-Pacific region.

Additionally, as a global partner of Aion, we agreed to pursue various forms of cooperation, including technology development, commercialization, and project development.

Based in Colorado, USA, ION possesses global leading technologies in the field of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), including next-generation CO2 capture absorbents and CO2 capture plant design know-how, for which patents have been filed in major countries including the US and Japan.

In particular, ION's absorbent has the advantage of being able to relatively lower CO2 capture costs because it has a faster absorption rate, consumes less energy for CO2 separation, and has excellent durability compared to existing commercial absorbents.

In recognition of its outstanding technological prowess, ION has emerged as a leader in the CCUS market, winning a large-scale project to capture CO2 from gas power plants in North America with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).It's burning.

CCUS, including carbon capture, is recognized as a key technology for advancing carbon neutrality by removing CO2 emissions from industry.

Furthermore, domestic and foreign companies are entering the CCUS business, anticipating that rising carbon emission rights prices and subsidies will improve market size and economic viability.

Meanwhile, SK Materials' strategic partnership with Ion, which possesses next-generation carbon capture technology, is being evaluated as an opportunity to strengthen its business competitiveness in the carbon capture sector.

SK Materials CEO Lee Yong-wook said, “As global market demand for CCUS technology is rapidly increasing, this investment and business cooperation with ION will give SK Materials an advantageous position in the CCUS business.” He added, “We will strengthen our cooperation with ION to develop various CO2 capture projects and expand investments in eco-friendly businesses to contribute to achieving global carbon neutrality.”

“This investment demonstrates SK Materials’ commitment to proactively addressing climate change and achieving global carbon neutrality,” said Buz Brown, founder of Aion. “As a global business partner of SK Materials, Aion will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions worldwide.”

Meanwhile, SK Materials is enhancing its eco-friendly business capabilities by making a follow-up investment in Aion following its $100 million investment in 8Rivers, which possesses next-generation CCUS technology, in March of last year.

Through this, SK Group is expected to contribute to reducing carbon emissions by approximately 1% (200 million tons) of the global carbon reduction target by 2030.