Bluemethane

Bluemethane is transforming one of the most overlooked sources of greenhouse gas into a global clean energy opportunity, with a mission to prevent one billion tonnes of emissions from water by 2050.

Methane is over 80 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere, yet emissions from wastewater treatment plants, anaerobic digesters, reservoirs and other water systems remain largely unmeasured and unmanaged. Of the 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases generated by human activities each year, an estimated three billion tonnes originate from methane released from water sources alone. Founded in 2021 by Louise Parlons Bentata and Nestor Rueda-Vallejo, Bluemethane is addressing this hidden challenge at source, by making the methane emissions measurable, preventable and, once captured, a valuable source of energy rather a costly liability.

Bluemethane addresses the emissions at every stage of the lifecycle, with three complementary technologies. Emily measures dissolved and entrained methane in real time, giving operators unprecedented visibility into emissions they’ve never had before. Chloe, which is commercially available and deployed across various UK water utility and biogas sites, then captures methane before it escapes into the atmosphere, converting it into a usable source of on-site energy. Brutus tackles the problem at source by deactivating the methanogens that produce methane in the first place, reducing methane formation by 99% at an Anglian Water site, under Environment Agency oversight. Together, these technologies enable water companies to measure, prevent and recover emissions that would otherwise be released unchecked into the atmosphere.

Since emerging from Carbon13’s Venture Builder programme, Bluemethane has combined private investment, grant funding and customer revenue to accelerate its path to market. Backed by early and follow-on investment from the Carbon13 SEIS Fund, alongside Innovate UK and DEFRA support, the company has built strong commercial momentum, with eight UK water companies now funding or hosting deployments. As customer revenue becomes an increasingly important part of the funding mix, Bluemethane is focused on scaling its impact: converting pilot projects into long-term commercial contracts, rolling out Chloe across utility and biogas sites, and bringing Brutus closer to routine deployment as a regulator-approved solution for methane prevention at source.