White Lotus Energy is using a photosynthesis-inspired process to turn carbon dioxide into green fuels, starting with green methanol.
The founding team brings together the ideal mix of expertise to drive this industry innovation. Meet CTO Dr Isuru Muthukudaarachchi, a photochemistry expert; COO Harsh Bhuta, with experience in scaling hard tech in industry; and CEO Chantelle Arneaud, with a track record of turning technology into business.
Starting with the maritime sector, the demand for clean fuels is clear. Driven by EU legislation and global IMO frameworks, the need to reduce carbon intensity in the maritime sector is set to grow exponentially, with targets of 2% reductions in 2025, 6% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
Using sunlight and a catalyst to convert CO₂ into fuel is a well-established field of chemistry. However, catalyst longevity has remained a key challenge. White Lotus Energy has taken inspiration from nature, replicating the biology of plants by mimicking the electron transfer pathways that plants use to keep their catalysts activated.
So far, the technology has demonstrated performance that is 100% better than the best photocatalyst reported in academic literature, with a further 40% performance improvement achieved through optimisation.
Learn more about the scale of the opportunity and the technology behind White Lotus Energy in the interview below.
What White Lotus Energy does
Sara: Hi everybody. Today we’re speaking to the team behind White Lotus Energies. I think they’re one of the most exciting Carbon13 startups of 2026, but I’m going to let them explain a little bit more about why. I’m joined by Chantelle, Harsh and Isuru, who are the standout team of this start-up. Brilliant founder–mission fit. I’m so excited to dive into it.
Sara: Do you want to give us the nutshell on what White Lotus Energies is, and why anybody interested in the future of green chemicals needs to pay attention to what you’re working on?
Chantelle: Sure. We are developing a new process to create clean chemicals and fuels, and our process is based on the concept of photosynthesis. We look at the way that plants use sunlight to store energy, and we are replicating that to create clean chemicals and fuels.
Why that’s interesting at the moment is because clean fuels are being adopted by a number of sectors to replace fossil fuels. So, when we’re able to reach commercial scale, this has a big possibility to deliver impact.
Sara: It sounds really simple, photosynthesis, just get the plants to do it. Why are you guys able to crack this?
Isuru: These kinds of reactions, which use light to drive the reaction, are called photochemistry and photocatalysis. This isn’t an uncommon field; it’s a very big field within chemistry itself. But especially in the context of converting CO2 into renewable fuels, it hasn’t really taken off out of the lab, mainly because of a phenomenon we call recombination.
Essentially, when these catalysts are activated by light, they need to stay activated to drive the reaction forward. But current catalysts almost immediately deactivate. When we looked at how to fix this problem, it turns out that plants had already fixed it billions of years ago. They have an elegant way of keeping this activated state for a long time, so they can drive the reaction forward.
So, our innovation really lies in replicating that electron transfer pathway, how plants keep these catalysts activated, on the surfaces of our catalyst. What we did is very primitive compared to the billions of years of R&D that plants have done, but we are still able to achieve very competitive rates, and higher rates than the incumbent catalysts.
Sara: Got you. So, this is still a chemical reaction in a lab. It’s not like the plants themselves are exuding anything that you’re harvesting, right?
Isuru: No, we are inspired by them, but we are not using anything biological within the system.
Progress since c13 investment
Sara: What progress have you made since Carbon13’s investment in you?
Chantelle: We started out just over 12 months ago with an idea and a lot of determination. Our idea was to develop this technology to create methanol for the maritime sector. The maritime sector is responsible for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and they are already starting to decarbonise, but they have a challenge in that there’s not enough supply of fuel.
That was our presumption, but we needed to prove it. So, the first thing we did was go out and speak to the market to validate whether the maritime sector needed green methanol at scale. Customer discovery is always a gruelling task, because you’re asking busy people to give you some of their time for very little in return. But I was quite overwhelmed by the response, because people are actively looking for solutions and were very willing to speak to us. We spoke to more than 50 stakeholders, not just across maritime, but also aviation and the chemical sector, and were able to quickly confirm that yes, there is a real problem in the market.
Once we knew that, the next thing was to get into the lab. We were very lucky to get investment from Carbon13, and we also got some funding from the UK Department for Transport. That gave us the funds to get into the lab, create the first version of our catalyst and start to produce methanol.
Not only did we produce methanol, but our results were very promising: we outperformed the highest performing photocatalyst in the academic literature by 100%. Since then, we’ve continued to optimise, and we’ve seen an increase of about 40% in performance so far.
Now we’re starting to think about the next stage for this platform technology: how do we design a sunlight-driven reactor for clean chemicals and fuels that can operate at commercial scale?
Sara: Can I ask, with the Department for Transport, what exactly was the brief you were fulfilling? Was it investment or a grant?
Chantelle: It was a grant called TRIG, which is all about maritime decarbonisation. They were looking for very early-stage solutions, below TRL 4. It’s quite an easy grant to fill out, it doesn’t take months, it’s a short application form. They’re looking to de-risk novel technologies, get you into the lab to prove that it works, so you can get on the road. No pun intended.
One thing white lotus energy wants investors to know
Sara: Well put, out to sea! So, you’re making great progress now. When you’re talking to investors, what’s the one takeaway you want them to have about White Lotus?
Chantelle: What we’re doing at White Lotus Energies is not optimising something existing. We are creating an entirely new way of producing energy. While we’re starting with methanol, that’s just our first product. What we’re really doing is creating a new system that can produce multiple chemicals and fuels, which means we have the opportunity to help decarbonise a number of sectors around the world.
The second thing I want them to know, and this is really important in the context of impact businesses, is that we care deeply about people and planet; it’s one of the driving forces behind us. However, we’re also keenly aware that we’re operating in a commercial world, and that commercial lens sits behind every decision we make. Whether it’s material selection for our catalyst or reactor design, it’s always through a commercial lens, because to grow a global business and decarbonise different sectors, switching to clean fuels needs to be a very easy choice for everyone. That keeps us focused not just on proving that something works, but on making sure it will be viable at commercial scale.
Sara: Absolutely. It’s so exciting, guys — I’m really looking forward to seeing the progress you make. Thank you so much for talking to me today.
Team: Thank you. It was lovely to chat.