Small Business Award winner spotlight: CleanO2

In 2005, after years in the commercial heating industry, Jaeson Cardiff discovered there were no solutions in place to address the carbon emissions caused by heating buildings. When he began exploring options to reduce emissions, Jaeson came across the carbon capture industry and began exploring how he could apply this concept to heating. The eventual result was CleanO2, Jaeson founded along with Kathi Fischer and Scott Forgrave. Their cleantech company makes devices they call CarbinX to capture carbon emissions, which can then be turned into soap, shampoos and other personal care products.

This year, CleanO2 was recognized for the development of their cutting-edge technology, winning the Bow Valley College Innovation Award at the 40th Calgary Small Business Awards.

Cleaning up the circular economy

While many of us may have heard of carbon capture technology, it is often spoken about in big-picture applications, as is evident in the oil and gas industry. CleanO2 stands apart from this concept as the only company that captures emissions from small sources of greenhouse gas. Their technology captures emissions from sources like boilers and gas-fired heating appliances which, Jaeson says, makes up for about 12% of all emissions in Canada, the US and Japan.

“The reality of all environmental and sustainable solutions is that they have inherently been a liability to most businesses. The addition of an economic principle to the reduction of waste means that businesses need to look at their waste through a different lens,” says Jaeson. “CleanO2 supports a new avenue of revenue while reducing the impact of things we throw away, not only with the consumer goods we produce, but also with carbon upcycling technologies that incorporate captured carbon into some of the parts we manufacture in our technology. Carbon is literally being used to capture carbon.”

With what is left of this captured carbon, Jaeson and his team at CleanO2 produce soap and other personal care products, not only as a circular economy source of revenue, but also as a way of educating their consumers.

“The soap is the method we use to help people understand how useful carbon can be and how tangible carbon capture can be when applied to consumer goods. We also produce fertilizers, textile fixing agents, car care products and pH balancers,” says Jaeson. “Our brand of soap is the easiest product we use to explain how our technology works.”

Soap-making was not the initial plan for Jaeson and his team of co-founders. When they first set out, their goal was to sell carbon captured in their CarbinX units to larger companies as a chemical commodity, however, they ran into a problem.

“These companies buy wholesale volumes of carbonates by rail car—a single CarbinX unit could only make a fraction of that amount. We knew that at scale, with thousands of CarbinX units in the field, we could eventually meet that need, but not initially,” says Jaeson. “This meant we needed to pivot.”

Through researching applications for potassium carbonate, the byproduct of the CarbinX units, Jaeson learned it could be used as a water-softening agent which is easier on skin than the traditional agent, sodium carbonate. During this research, Jaeson met Michelle Regel, a soap maker who was experienced in working with sustainable materials.

“She agreed to come and work with us to create the line of products that has grabbed the attention of many industry leaders in both the personal care and cosmetics industry. Now, many years later, we have sold various products across the country and beyond and are looking to scale up our operations next year, pending investment,” he says.

Jaeson understands from his experience that starting a new business and a whole new industry has its challenges, but he also knows that reducing carbon emissions was something he is drawn to help with.

Innovating in Canada’s energy epicentre

Through what he calls hostile takeover attempts, shady investors and an industry resistant to change, Jaeson has continued on his innovative path to expanding CleanO2, which recently signed a three-way deal with Tokyo Gas and one of the oldest trading companies in Japan, Okaya Co.

“To me, an innovator’s defining quality is the belief in oneself to solve any problem, regardless of scale, while being practical in their approach,” says Jaeson. “CleanO2 has adopted this same mentality. Don’t wait for someone else to solve the problem; roll up your sleeves and figure it out. It’s also important to know when and how to ask for help.”

Jaeson and his team are working to release a new carbon capture technology that will help reduce some carbon emissions by 30 – 70% later in 2024 and are also expanding throughout North America.

“Over the next 12 months, CleanO2 will be adding distribution centers in Ontario, Minnesota and possibly California, with over 100 CarbinX units spread out to three different countries,” he says.

“We are anticipating closing a deal with one of the largest personal care companies in North America and we are collaborating with the largest hydronics manufacturer in North America. Beyond that, we believe further mandates will make our CarbinX technology an obvious choice to help property owners decarbonize their buildings.”

Despite this expansion, Jaeson values the roots of where he started. “Growing up in rural Alberta, I knew a number of ranchers and farmers, and they all had that ‘can-do’ attitude,” he says.

“They don’t rely on others to fix their problems. They own their dilemma and solve it out of necessity. I’ve always admired that—I also have a father who is incredibly innovative and has a very hands-on approach to most things.”

For this reason, and as a fourth-generation Calgarian, Jaeson is proud to have CleanO2’s head office here in the city.

“Being an epicentre of the Canadian energy markets and creating a solution that is tied to that industry seems fitting,” says Jaeson. “Winning the Bow Valley College Innovation Award is an acknowledgement of the years of effort we have poured into this company and hopefully acts as a beacon to other innovators to take notice and become part of the solution to the problems our societies face.”

See the full list of winners from the 40th Calgary Small Business Awards. For more information about CleanO2, visit cleanO2.ca.