Possibilities to remove carbon from the climate equation. 

We are racing against time to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner if possible. 

Preventing greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere and actively removing carbon from the atmosphere are the main avenues to make that happen. But what is the current carbon landscape? 

Understanding fast and slow carbon cycles 

Slow refers to carbon stored for hundreds of thousands of years in underground reservoirs, while fast refers to carbon captured from the atmosphere by plants and released back when the plants die and decay, all happening within a relatively short time. Planting trees means storing carbon in the fast carbon cycle. 

Explainer: 

Carbon sink: Absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases – ocean, soil, plants. 

Carbon source: Releases more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs – burning of fossil fuels or volcanic eruptions. 

 

What is best? Removal or avoidance carbon credits? 

Avoidance credits – essentially any activity that prevents hazardous greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. 

Typically, it includes renewable energy, forest protection, or efficient cook-stove projects that have the potential to save 40-70% of firewood and up to 90% reduction in smoke. Currently, three billion people cook on an open fire, which means this simple but effective shift could have a massive impact on a global scale, not to mention the health benefits. 

Removal credits – basically anything that actively removes carbon from the atmosphere. 

These projects focus on reforestation or engineered solutions such as direct air carbon capture. However, there are more innovative solutions to make active removal possible. Also, it is still at a very early stage, with lots of research required to prove its viability. 

Overall, it is more efficient to avoid releasing carbon than trying to remove it after it is released. 

Simply put, it is much easier to protect an existing forest than to start planting trees and nurturing a complex habitat, which takes a long time and has many risks. 

 

Innovative Approaches:

Producing Biochar 

A unique solution that mixes the slow and fast carbon cycles. It acts like biological coal, created by burning plants with a lack of oxygen, so the carbon is stored in these plants for thousands of years in the ground. Using this material in agriculture is also beneficial because it enriches the soil, making it more fertile. 

Turning carbon dioxide into energy 

Long-duration energy storage was made possible by an Italian company, Energy Dome, which created solutions like “CO2 battery” and the Energy Transition Combined Cycle to use CO2 in effective energy production. 

Capturing carbon in concrete 

A UK and Ireland-based start-up, Concrete4Change, has set out to utilise the natural potential of concrete for the permanent storage of CO2. They developed an innovative technology capable of storing up to 30 per cent of CO2 in concrete while making the material stronger and the production cheaper. 

Storing carbon in rocks 

Icelandic company Carbfix provides a natural and permanent storage solution by turning CO2 into stone underground in less than two years. This technology imitates and accelerates a natural process where carbon dioxide is dissolved in water and interacts with reactive rock formations, such as basalts, to form stable minerals, providing a permanent and safe carbon sink. 

Ocean-based solutions 

New research commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) shows that ocean-based climate solutions can deliver up to 35% of the annual greenhouse gas emission cuts needed in 2050 to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. 

These include ocean-based renewable energy, reduction of transport, and embracing blue carbon ecosystems (mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal marshes) that can store up to five times more carbon per area than tropical forests and absorb it from the atmosphere about three times as quickly, and sustainable ocean-based food production, among other things. 

 

This article was originally published in the Profit with Purpose Magazine. Download the latest version to read more articles >>