Partners for abundant, low-carbon energy
C12 Energy captures CO2 from industrial sources, stores that CO2 in appropriate geologic strata, and uses that CO2 to increase oil production at maturing oil fields.
Our Team
As scientists, geologists, and engineers, we see the potential for carbon storage to prevent large quantities of greenhouse gas from entering the sky and create a source of clean and abundant energy.
Meet the teamAbout C12 Energy
Originally, we met at the Harvard Energy Club. Now our team includes geologists, scientists and engineers from across the globe. We share a passion for science, a love of the land, and a conviction that by combining the two we can help build a better energy system.
Kurt Zenz House
PresidentKurt Zenz House has studied and written extensively on the physics, chemistry and economics of capturing and storing anthropogenic carbon dioxide. He co-founded C12 Energy to accelerate the commercial development of linked carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery projects.
In 2007, Esquire magazine featured Kurt among its “Best and Brightest.” In 2009, he was named by Technology Review magazine as one of the “Top 35 Innovators Under 35.” And in 2010 he was named one of Boston’s “Top 15 Innovators” by the Boston Globe.
Previously, Kurt worked for Bain & Company where he helped companies develop their corporate strategy and advised private equity firms on their investment decisions. He holds a B.S. in Physics from the Claremont Colleges and a Ph.D. in Geoscience from Harvard University.
Three portraits hang in his office: John D. Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein.
Justin Dawe
Chief Executive OfficerJustin Dawe has made a career of identifying and implementing practical, novel solutions to large-scale energy challenges. He uses his business, community, and technical expertise to bring market-changing projects into reality.
Before co-founding C12 Energy, Justin was part of a leading wind power project development team at Horizon Wind Energy. Prior to that, as a community organizer focused on energy policy, he helped to win passage of Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard, the nation’s first statewide clean energy initiative approved by a vote of the public.
Justin holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School as well as an M.S. and B.S. in Engineering from Stanford University. He grew up in rural Hawaii, Oregon, and California. His dedication to building a low-carbon energy industry is rooted in his respect for how well today’s energy system performs, and his desire to protect the extraordinary beauty of the places where he grew up.
Executives
- Kurt Zenz House
- Justin Dawe
Geology
- Charles Brankman
Charles Brankman
Co-Founder and Director of GeosciencesAfter receiving his Ph.D. in Geosciences from Harvard, Charlie worked as a seismic hazards consultant in northern California. He now leads C12’s geosciences team in site identification and characterization for CO2 storage.- Rob Selover
Rob Selover
Senior Staff GeologistRob focuses on site identification and characterization. He previously worked as an environmental geologist, remediating contaminated groundwater plumes and sediment deposits. He earned his M.S. in Geosciences from The Pennsylvania State University.- Caitlin Lippincott
Caitlin Lippincott
Staff GeologistCaitlin finished her M.S. in Geology at San Diego State then spent five years working as a geologist for an environmental and geo-hazards consulting firm. At C12, she focuses on mapping, modeling, and understanding the project geology.- Kelly Bergman
Kelly Bergman
Project GeologistKelly finished her Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Miami and subsequently worked at Chevron as a petroleum earth scientist. She uses sedimentology and stratigraphy to study and chart reservoir geology at each project.
Engineering Sciences
- Ernst van Nierop
Ernst van Nierop
Director of EngineeringErnst completed his Ph.D. at Harvard and has since applied his technical understanding of fluid mechanics and engineering to flow modeling, storage site design, and techno-economic analysis of CO2 sources, pipelines, and capture technologies.- Antonio Baclig
Antonio Baclig
Staff ScientistAntonio graduated from Harvard with a degree in Chemistry and Physics and a minor in Computer Science. He’s working on producing reservoir simulations, analyzing major CO2 emitters, and exploring ways to monitor underground carbon dioxide.- Shipeng Fu
Shipeng Fu
Reservoir EngineerAfter finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, Shipeng worked for Royal Dutch Shell in Houston. With her experience in oil development, she analyzes practical questions of integrating carbon storage and enhanced oil recovery.- Mark Henle
Mark Henle
Staff ScientistMark received his Ph.D. in Physics from UC Santa Barbara, then spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA and Harvard. At C12 he’s working on techno-economic analyses and analyzing CO2 flow in the subsurface.- Yonnie Yip
Yonnie Yip
Reservoir Simulation EngineerYonnie received both her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. She designs and analyzes the computer models that simulate how CO2 behaves in the subsurface.- Saeed Irani
Saeed Irani
Manager of Well OperationsSaeed comes to C12 Energy after decades of experience supervising and designing drilling and completion projects for natural gas, oil, water injection, and gas storage wells. He received his M.S. from U.C. Berkeley and a B.S. from Purdue University.
Land Team
- Barclay Rogers
Barclay Rogers
Director of DevelopmentBarclay works on landowner relations, permitting, and CO2 sourcing. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Cambridge, a J.D. from Lewis & Clark College, and an engineering degree from the University of Arkansas.- Martin Culik
Martin Culik
Senior Project ManagerAfter studying Agronomy at Nebraska and Plant Science at Delaware, Martin spent 20+ years working on wind energy and rural development. As a project manager, he teams with Illinois landowners and local officials to develop the carbon storage industry.- Brian Reilly
Brian Reilly
Senior Project ManagerBrian studied Physics at Middlebury College and spent eight years developing wind energy projects throughout the United States. With a strong background in project management, Brian is focused on C12’s western U.S. land sites.- Tyson Taylor
Tyson Taylor
Project ManagerTyson came to C12 Energy after working on wind projects in the plains and land development projects around Denver. He is now in the Mountain West, working to build partnerships with landowners, acquire CO2 storage rights, and develop new projects.- Michael Rieser
Michael Rieser
Senior Business Development ManagerMichael developed California business strategies at two top renewable energy companies during their high-growth stages. At C12, he originates contracts with large emitters. He holds an M.S. in Structural Geology from the University of Minnesota.- Joe Corning
Joe Corning
Project AnalystJoe graduated from Harvard College with degrees in Government and Environmental Science. His focus is on geographic information systems, land analysis, and supporting C12 staff and partners in the field.
Business & Finance
- Daniel Enderton
Daniel Enderton
Director of External AffairsDaniel develops and implements C12’s legislative and regulatory agenda. He also contributes to business development efforts. Daniel holds a Ph.D. from MIT and previously worked as a research developer at the MIT Energy Initiative.- Jill Daniel
Jill Daniel
Director of FinanceJill finances and structures C12’s storage projects. Previously she worked as a private equity investor, executing $10 billion of energy and infrastructure transactions. She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford and a finance degree from the University of Michigan.- Megan Nimura
Megan Nimura
Business ManagerBefore C12 Energy, Megan assisted research at the MIT Energy Initiative. Previously, she studied Film at Suffolk University and worked in publishing with Where Boston. At C12, she focuses on operations, including HR, accounting and office management.- Chelsea Turner
Chelsea Turner
Assistant Business Manager and Research AnalystChelsea brings a B.S. in Biology from UC Davis to her research analysis work, focusing on legislation that emphasizes CO2 development. As an experienced administrator, she also helps to manage C12’s business operations.
Scientific Advisors
- Daniel Schrag
Daniel Schrag
Chairman of the Scientific Advisory BoardDan is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He works with economists and engineers on technological approaches to mitigating climate change.- Don DePaolo
Don DePaolo
Scientific AdvisorDon is the Associate Lab Director for Energy and Environmental Sciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is a professor of Geochemistry and the Earth Sciences Division Director at UC Berkeley.- Steven L. Bryant
Steven L. Bryant
Scientific AdvisorSteven is Professor of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He directs the Geological CO2 Storage Research Program there and leads projects at UT's Energy Frontiers Research Center on energy by-product storage.- Jennifer Wilcox
Jennifer Wilcox
Scientific AdvisorJennifer's research focuses on computational design and testing of materials for trace metal and carbon capture, coupling prediction to bench-scale combustion experiments. She has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona.- John Shaw
John Shaw
Scientific AdvisorJohn is the Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology at Harvard University where he leads the Structural Geology & Earth Resources Program. He studies active faults for hazard assessment and new technologies for oil exploration.- Bradford H. Hager
Bradford H. Hager
Scientific AdvisorBrad is Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Earth Sciences at MIT. On June 1 he will become Director of the Earth Resources Laboratory. Brad's expertise is in geomechanics and earthquake physics in reservoir and tectonic settings. He is a Harvard Ph.D.- Howard Herzog
Howard Herzog
Scientific AdvisorHoward is a Senior Research Engineer in the MIT Energy Initiative. Since 1989, he has been a member of MIT's research staff, working on sponsored research involving energy, the environment, and greenhouse gas mitigation technologies.- Gary Rochelle
Gary Rochelle
Scientific AdvisorGary is the Carol and Henry Groppe Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He leads research in the Luminant Carbon Management Program to develop carbon capture and sequestration technologies.- Lee Lynd
Lee Lynd
Scientific AdvisorLee is the Paul & Joan Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth, Co-Founder and Director of Mascoma Corporation, and initiator of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Project. He's an expert on biomass energy.- Anthony Kovscek
Anthony Kovscek
Scientific AdvisorTony is a Professor of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University where he studies the recovery of unconventional hydrocarbon resources and mitigating carbon emissions via geological sequestration. He joined the faculty at Stanford in 1996.- Charles Harvey
Charles Harvey
Special AdvisorCharlie is the Principal Investigator of the Hydrogeology Group at MIT. In addition to hydrogeology, he researches geochemical transport and cycling, and environmental management. He teaches subsurface chemical transport and reaction, and geostatistics.
Commercial Advisors
- Michael Skelly
Michael Skelly
Development AdvisorMichael is Co-Founder and President of Clean Line Energy Partners. Previously, he helped build Horizon Wind Energy into one of the nation’s leading clean energy companies. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from HBS.- Eric Markell
Eric Markell
Development AdvisorEric was Chief Strategy Officer of Puget Energy and its utility subsidiary Puget Sound Energy. He previously served as its CFO and Chief Resource Officer. He has extensive experience in resource acquisition in the power industry.- Robert Gee
Robert Gee
Development AdvisorBob is the President of Gee Strategies Group LLC, focusing on policy analysis and advocacy consulting for the energy, utility and infrastructure industries. He has also served as Commissioner and Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Board of Directors
- Anthony Meggs
Anthony Meggs
Chairman of the BoardTony Meggs is a Senior Advisor and executive at Talisman Energy. He has extensive oil and gas experience as a VP of Technology at BP where he held leadership positions in many regions, including Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea.- Brian Zingale
Brian Zingale
Board MemberBrian is a Principal at Reservoir Capital. Prior to Reservoir, he worked on Mergers & Acquisitions in the Power & Utilities group at Lehman Brothers. Brian graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Economics.- Michael Goguen
Michael Goguen
Board MemberMichael is a Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital. He works with early stage companies in energy, internet and technology. Michael has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford.- Kurt Zenz House
Observing Board Members
- Eric Engler
Eric Engler
Observing Board MemberEric is a Principal at Reservoir Capital. He previously worked as an investment analyst at D.E. Shaw & Co. Eric studied Mathematics at Williams College and earned an M.Phil. in Economics at the University of Oxford.- Craig Huff
Craig Huff
Observing Board MemberCraig is co-CEO and co-Founder of Reservoir Capital Group, an investment firm with approximately $5.8 billion under management. He has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and is a former US Navy Submarine Officer.- Jamie McJunkin
Jamie McJunkin
Observing Board MemberJamie is a Founder and General Partner of Madrone Capital Partners. He leads the company's efforts in sustainability and alternative energy. Jamie has an A.B. from Princeton as well as an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.- Warren Hogarth
Warren Hogarth
Observing Board MemberWarren is a Partner at Sequoia Capital where he invests in early stage companies focused on energy, bioinformatics and cloud computing. He has an M.B.A. from HBS and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Queensland.- Hemant Taneja
Hemant Taneja
Observing Board MemberHemant is a Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners where he invests in early stage companies focused on clean energy and the Internet. He is a graduate of MIT with degrees in Operations, Engineering, Math, Biology and Computer Science.
Library
We’ve assembled a range of educational and research materials on carbon storage and enhanced oil recovery, including papers published by our team.
- Introduction to Carbon Storage
- Carbon Storage Research
- C12 Project Site Research
- Enhanced Oil Recovery
- Carbon Storage Law
- Institutional Research
National Academy of Sciences , December 2011 View
Energy Procedia, Volume 4 , April 2011 View
Energy Procedia, Volume 4 , April 2011 View
The Leading Edge, v29, no. 2, p 170-177 , February 2010 View
Society of Petroleum Engineers , September 2010 View
Energy Procedia, v4, p 4617-4624 , April 2011 View
Water Resources Research , December 2006 View
Elsevier , February 2007 View
Transport in Porous Media 58, pgs. 339-360 , February 2005 View
Ground Water 47, pgs. 627-638 , June 2009 View
Environmental Geosciences, v. 16, no. 3, p 163– 183 , September 2009 View
Energy & Environmental Research Center , October 2005 View
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions , February 2012 View
SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering , December 2007 View
Advanced Resources International View
Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) , 2007 View
Contact Us
Headquarters
2054 University Ave., 4th Floor
Berkeley, California 94704
617-674-2478
Projects
We build partnerships that bring together energy providers, individual landowners, and the most geologically advantageous sites in America for storing CO2.
Landowners
C12 leases our carbon storage space from landowners, so our relationships with farmers and ranchers are integral to our success. We work cooperatively to make sure our projects are complementary to farming and ranching operations.
Meet landowners Gary and Glenda Bartels
Our Partners
We have built a valuable syndicate of industrial and financial partners. Meet our partners
Industry Partners
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Schlumberger
Schlumberger is the largest and most well respected oil services firm in the world; since 2005, Schlumberger Carbon Services has designed and built the preponderance of the CO2 management projects in the United States and abroad.
In 2011, C12 Energy and Schlumberger Carbon Services formed a unique partnership to manage anthropogenic CO2; this partnership combines C12 Energy’s willingness and ability to own sub-surface assets as well as to invest capital to develop CO2 projects with Schlumberger’s deep technical expertise, extraordinary resources, and broad sub-surface experience.
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Legado Resources
Legado acquires existing oil fields and invests in those fields to build CO2 enhanced oil recovery projects. Its founding team has over 200 years of CO2 enhanced oil recovery experience, and they have successfully developed many dozens of CO2 enhanced oil recovery projects.
C12 Energy and Legado Resources are pursuing several EOR investment opportunities.
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Summit Power Group
Summit develops large-scale power projects in the United States and abroad. They have successfully developed more than 7,000 megawatts of electric power plants, and they are currently developing another 2,000 megawatts.
Finance Partners
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Reservoir Capital Group
Reservoir manages nearly $8 billion in private equity, and it focuses its investments on long-dated illiquid assets, such as power plants, oil fields, refineries, and pipelines. Reservoir is C12 Energy’s largest investor, and their appetite for large-scale infrastructure investments makes them a valuable partner for C12’s future investments.
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Madrone Capital Partners
Madrone is the private investment firm for the Walton family. Since Madrone invests its own money, they are less constrained than typical private equity firms. Over the last decade, Madrone has made significant and important investments in alternative energy technologies, and their ultra-patient approach to investing makes them an important partner for C12’s future.
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Sequoia Capital
Sequoia specializes in making early investments in companies that have the potential to create new industries; indeed, Sequoia was among the first investors in iconic American companies such as Apple, Cisco, and Google. They are C12 Energy’s largest shareholder.
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General Catalyst Partners
General Catalyst manages $2.5 billion in venture capital, and they are a founding investor in C12 Energy. Hemant Teneja, managing partner at General Catalyst and C12 Energy board observer, is the founder of the Advance Energy Economy.