Contents: introduction, guest appearances, further reading, transcript, sources, credits
"Carbon is unlike any other commodity that's bought and sold at scale today" (Andrew Shebbeare)
For carbon removal to thrive under capitalism, we need thriving carbon removal businesses. And thriving carbon removal businesses need an income - but who's paying? Can a service like this, operating for the good of humanity, really work in a world that revolves around money?
That's the crux of this week's episode.
Carbon marketplaces offer one model: buy and sell carbon on the open market in the form of credits. It sounds straightforward enough, until you realise that no two tonnes of carbon removed from the atmosphere are the same. Plus, doesn't this kind of system just give greenwashing companies a licence to pollute?
Utilisation of carbon, rather than storage, is another potential revenue generator. Take your captured carbon, pop it in your product and sell on at a healthy margin. We focus on concrete here (for good reason), though the possibilities really are endless. Beyond the wow factor, does this bring the climate benefits we need?
Join us as we get to the business end of carbon removal and see carbon as we've never seen it before. Can money grow on trees or be produced out of thin air?
This episode's guests
Many thanks to our excellent guests in this episode:
- Sophie Purdom, Co-founder of Climate Tech VC & sustainable business practitioner and investor
- Andrew Shebbeare, Managing Partner at Counteract
- Rob Niven, Chair and CEO of CarbonCure
- Apoorv Sinha, CEO and Co-founder of Carbon Upcycling Technologies
| Name | Publisher | Publishing/Release Date | Source | Summary | Tag(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carbontech - Carbon180 Fact Sheet | Resource | |||||
Carbon dioxide utilization in concrete curing or mixing might not produce a net climate benefit | Academic Journal | |||||
Carbon removal mechanisms | Article | |||||
Concrete CO2 Fact Sheet | Resource | |||||
Carbon Market: Overview | Article | |||||
Systematic over-crediting
of forest offsets | Article | |||||
Assessing the potential of CO2 utilisation in the UK | Resource | |||||
An Introduction to CarbonCure’s Verified Carbon Dioxide Removal Program | Website | |||||
10 Carbon Capture methods compared: costs, scalability, permanence, cleanness | Article | |||||
Most Abundant Man-made Material Is Cutting Its Carbon Footprint | Article | |||||
Making Concrete Change: Innovation in Low-carbon Cement and Concrete | Resource | |||||
The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting 2020 | Oxford | Oxford 4 step approach to creating long-lasting carbon removal offsets in order to reach net zero | Academic Journal | |||
Carbon Capture: Can CO2-EOR really provide carbon-negative oil? | energypost.eu | May 10, 2019 | Exploring and critiquing the use of carbon for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) | Carbon useCCS | Article | |
Driving CO2 emissions to zero (and beyond) with carbon capture, use, and storage | McKinsey | June 30, 2020 | An investigation into the CCUS space, assessing the technologies and economics behind several CCUS scenarios over the next decade. | Carbon useCCSEconomics | Article | |
Carbon Dioxide Removal Primer | Various authors | January 1, 2021 | A summary of all things carbon dioxide removal related, written by several experts in the field. An invaluable resource, available as a book or freely available online. | Overview | Resource | |
The technological and economic prospects for CO2 utilization and removal | Nature | November 6, 2019 | Academic Journal | |||
One day, your home could be made with mushrooms | The Verge | February 2, 2021 | Following the journey of making a brick out of mushrooms, and exploring the future of mushroom-based building materials. These building materials avoid many of the emissions associated with current building practices, and lock some carbon away for the lifetime of the material. | Carbon useInnovation | Video | |
The State of Carbon Capture, Removal and Utilization | The Interchange | October 30, 2020 | Podcast | |||
Carbon180 Deep Dives | Carbon180 | February 1, 2021 | Three-page introductions to the key areas of carbon removal - forests, agriculture, DAC, carbon use and BECCS. | Carbon useBECCSDACAgricultureTrees | Resource | |
Exxon Mobil 2021 Investor Day Webcast | Exxon Mobil | March 3, 2021 | Particularly relevant here are slides 14-17, where ExxonMobil show the potential they see in CCS technologies. | Carbon useCCS | Resource |
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Credits
The Carbon Removal Show is a Restored.cc and Cofruition production. We are sponsored by Patch. Here's who made this episode happen:
- Emily Swaddle & Tom Previte - co-hosts
- Ben Weaver-Hincks - producer
- Henry Irvine - researcher
- Sam Floy & Patrick Carter - project managers
- Mercy Barno - editor
- Sam Carter - music producer
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