![]() ![]() However, there are also companies emerging which are developing innovative new ways of making that process cheaper and more efficient, particularly for methods of soil carbon capture.Ĭompanies such as Montreal-based ChrysaLabs and Cambridge, Massachusetts, based Yard Stick are leading the way in developing next-generation soil sampling probes that use spectroscopy to provide cheap, rapid insights on soil carbon levels. Right now, one of the hurdles for removals start-ups looking to roll out their technology at scale, is the time and cost involved in verifying their carbon credits. “Most polymers are made as a byproduct of petroleum drilling, they’re made from petrochemicals.” “One of the challenges for a company like Graphyte is going to be, ‘Okay, you're using polymers to store the carbon, but what about the carbon footprint of those polymers?’” says Ranade. While nature-based carbon removals have already shown promise, these companies still have to provide ample data to show that carbon is genuinely being locked away for the long term, and that their method of sequestering it does not incur significant additional carbon footprint. ![]() The Climate Foundation is among a number of start-ups cultivating floating, solar-powered kelp farms with the aim of regenerating marine ecosystems which have been impacted the consequences of excess CO2, such as ocean acidification. Other companies are looking to use various marine species as a way of soaking up CO2 from the ocean. In November, the company signed its first carbon removal purchase agreement with American Airlines. This is then dried, condensed into dense carbon blocks which are wrapped in an environmentally safe polymer and stored underground in a specially engineered site. The startup Graphyte, which is backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, is collecting waste byproducts such as rice husks or discarded wood, which have already captured significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. Treating the soil is just one approach to removing carbon at scale. We feel that’s the way to build reputation and reduce risk towards customers who buy our credits.” “We’re publishing a paper in the coming months basically showcasing all the data we’ve generated for the past three years. “We’re working with our scientists from University of Texas, Yale, University of Colorado, and we recently announced a partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,” says Fuenzalida. While this approach has attracted considerable interest from investors including Leaps, the company is taking steps to ensure that it has the backing of leading scientists in the field. Their goal is now to scale up to one million acres within the next two years. According to Gonzalo Fuenzalida, co-founder and CEO of Andes, the company partnered with 45 farmers in 2023, resulting in 50,000 acres of land across the Midwest being treated with their microbes. Credits are created based on the amount of carbon stored in their fields at the end of the season, as measured by an independent laboratory. In addition to boosting the nutrient content of the soil, this method represents a way of sequestering carbon for thousands of years.Īndes is partnering with farmers across the United States by offering their microbial solution free of charge. ![]() California-based startup Andes, which my team at Leaps has invested in, identified microorganisms that grow with plant roots and convert CO2 into a stable inorganic carbon form, otherwise known as minerals called carbonates. Many emerging companies in the removals sector are already taking extra steps to try and ensure greater transparency, particularly when it comes to the complex field of nature-based removals. “If done right, they can offer lots of benefits, but there’s a need for good data collection to establish additionality and benefits.” “If you’re taking CO2 and using it as an input for making polymers or cement or concrete, or forms of geological sequestration such as forestry and soil carbon, these are more permanent removals,” he says. He highlights companies such as Novomer and LanzaTech which have made progress in capturing carbon and transforming it into plastic. In particular, Ranade believes that greater value needs to be placed on credits associated with longer-term carbon removals. They all offer different levels of benefit for climate mitigation, and that needs to be priced in.” Permanently Removing Carbon “Offsets, credits for using zero carbon electricity, credits for using carbon dioxide as a raw material, and credits for carbon sequestration. “There are different kinds of carbon credits,” says Ranade.
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