Climeworks Builds A Tree In Brooklyn?

First scientists showed fusion energy could work, now climate startup showed it could remove carbon from open air. Both firsts come with caveat they‘re in infant stages yet recall what happened to the mustard seed.

As the WSJ coverage notes, Climeworks AG is a “leader in the race to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using a process known as direct-air capture.” The company as well as others have “long promised that using vacuum-like devices to pull in air, filter it and bury carbon underground can help mitigate environmental damage caused by human activities. This is the first time a company has actually done it at a meaningful scale using a third-party verified process.” The big Q, however, is the next step, i.e., “what is it?” Said Stacy Kauk, Shopify’s head of sustainability remained optimistic in insisting it’ll be figured out, “This is an important inflection point in the development of direct-air capture. It isn’t just science fiction [anymore]. It’s reality.”

As might be expected, effectively carrying out what trees do by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing the crud underground for thousands of years is expected to be a lucrative money-making proposition once it can be introduced on a marketable scale. Already, we’re told, Climeworks got Microsoft and other customers to pay a “significant premium to buy carbon credits” it generates, “allowing them to effectively offset their own emissions.” Now, if only Climeworks can show us how to turn some of its buried carbon into diamonds during our lifetime …

Davd Soul