In Old Saybrook, a new company looks to make headway in the emerging and important field of carbon recycling.

Two years ago, Will Hessert helped cofound BluSky, a carbon removal company located on Research Parkway in Old Saybrook.

When asked to explain what carbon removal is, Hessert explained, “Basically, what we do is climate change in reverse.”

Hessert said the company helps facilitate a multi-step process where organic material — usually woodchips — is trucked to the company and heated in an oven called the Vulcan. As the Vulcan heats the matter, it creates a substance called biochar and a gas. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, biochar can be used as a soil supplement, among other uses.

Rather than release the gas back into the atmosphere, some of the gas is used to help power the Vulcan. The rest of the gas is converted into stone.

“Nobody has ever done this combination before,” Hessert said, noting the multitude of steps.

The impetus for the company began three years ago when Hessert heard of the XPrize competition for Carbon removal. The competition, sponsored by Elon Musk, seeks to reward teams with $100 million in prize money if they can demonstrate effective ways to facilitate carbon removal.

Hessert said that he’d had a similar idea for a company that did carbon removal, so the announcement of the competition was fortuitous.

“I had a background in software engineering, but it’s been an incredible learning experience in doing this with a great team in chemical and physical engineering as well,” Hassert said. BluSky closed on the industrial space in Old Saybrook in May 2022. A landfill in Hartford closed soon after, which played into BluSky’s favor.

“Towns across the state are really looking for ways to get rid of their organic waste like woodchips,” Hassert said.

To meet the goal of avoiding the worst predictions of what the worst effects of climate change may be, Hassert said that carbon removal will need to scale quickly in the next 25 years. The Old Saybrook facility can remove over 40,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, making it one of the largest facilities to Hassert’s knowledge.

“It’s kind of crazy to think Old Saybrook will have one of the largest facilities on earth just out behind the Walmart,” Hassert joked.

While noting that the industry is a new one, Hassert said he hopes that the work BluSky and other companies in the Carbon removal business do show people what can be accomplished with teamwork and ingenuity.

“Cynicism and doomerism, I think, are easy. We’re hoping we can show people there are solutions; they’re not easy, but they are achievable,” Hassert said.

For more information, visit BluSky.io.