The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is the highest in 2 million years: it has risen from 280 ppm in 1750 to 420 ppm in 2022. And keeps rising.
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There is no silver bullet to turn the corner on climate change. Direct Air Capture is one of the many tools we will need to permanently reduce the concentrations of CO2 in our atmosphere.
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Humanity is still emitting 40 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. So the primary goal remains to reduce the amount of fossil CO2 that gets into our atmosphere. This implies more solar and wind energy to replace existing fossil power plants, capturing CO2 from point sources and replacing any use of fossil sources with renewable sources wherever possible.
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The simplest and cheapest form to take CO2 out of the atmosphere is by growing trees. An average grown-up tree takes up 25-30 kg of CO2 per year and converts it into biomass; it is a “proven” solution, but requires proper carbon management.
Growing trees can be done in new areas that were not previously forested or by restoring former forests.
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A big contributor to the natural cycle of carbon dioxide removal is the chemical weathering of certain types of rocks. Especially silicates (e.g., olivine) are particularly prone to absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Enhancing this process can increase the short term removal capacity.
The mining, milling and storage of these materials is currently being researched by various initiatives.
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Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS): periodically harvesting the carbon stored in plants by burning them (to produce bioenergy), combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Oceanic storage of CO2: the ocean is a carbon sink with an enormous capacity. CO2 can be stored through alkalinization and fertilization (e.g., seaweed).
Biochar is charcoal that is produced by pyrolysis of biomass in the absence of oxygen. It is a stable solid that is rich in carbon and can endure in soil for thousands of years.
Carbyon expects that more yet-to-be-developed solutions will complete the CDR portfolio.
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Direct Air Capture allows us to filter CO2 from ambient air and store it underground, exactly where it originates from. It needs very little space and has enourmous scaling potential.
The technology is still relatively expensive and implemented on a modest scale. Bringing the costs down and turning this into a strong tool for climate change mitigation is precisely the reason why Carbyon was founded.
