David Ortega Named as Breakthrough Energy Fellow

The Second Cohort of Fellows will receive multifaceted support needed to help accelerate the commercialization of their climate tech innovations.

Nottingham, UK.

On October 4th 2022, Breakthrough Energy announced the second cohort of its Fellows program as part of the organization’s mission to support the development of a range of clean energy technologies the world needs to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. David Ortega, founder of Phase Biolabs, was named as a Fellow, working in electro-fuels. Phase Biolabs is developing a bioprocess based on gas fermentation to produce electro-fuels directly from carbon dioxide.

The Breakthrough Energy Fellows (BE Fellows) program provides innovators from across the globe with funding, mentorship, education, and access to the Breakthrough Energy network with the aim of accelerating these new technologies’ path from early development to widespread deployment.

“Our second cohort of Breakthrough Energy Fellows represents a group of brilliant, global innovators and climate thought leaders, all sharing a deep-rooted commitment toward finding innovative solutions to solve the climate crisis. These incredible individuals are working every day to introduce novel technologies and disruptive approaches to a variety of industries that will have the power to reimagine our sustainable future,” said Ashley Grosh, Vice President, Breakthrough Energy Fellows. “To succeed, these leaders need a uniquely tailored set of resources, and that’s why we created the Fellows program. We are very excited to welcome this remarkable group into our second cohort and support them as they take on our most pressing clean technology challenges.”

Phase Biolabs is developing carbon recycling technology to enable the valorization of greenhouse gas emissions. This technology is based on a gas fermentation bioprocess, which can convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into cost competitive and carbon neutral electro-fuels. Our mission is to recycle 1 gigaton of CO2 per year by 2050.

“The BE Fellows program is a unique opportunity and we are extremely fortunate to be supported by a world class organization like Breakthrough Energy. This program will accelerate the development of our carbon recycling technology and enable us to test the technology in industrial pilots with our commercial partners,” said David Ortega.

BE Fellows focuses its support on innovations across Breakthrough Energy’s Five Grand Challenges. The second cohort of Fellows consists of innovators working in carbon capture, storage, and sequestration, cement, electrofuels, food and agriculture, hydrogen, long duration storage, and steel. The program also includes projects in biofuels, water treatment, HVAC systems, light weighting, and renewables. The projects were selected through a competitive application process and must demonstrate and model an ability to reduce 500 million tons of carbon dioxide per year at scale.