This week we welcome Equatic Principal Advisor Dr. Lorenzo Corsini to This Is CDR to update us on the company's evolution and progress since SeaChange was on the program in December 2021, and discuss the electrochemical mCDR company's recent offtake purchase agreement with Boeing, the road ahead, and path to scale.

About Lorenzo:

Dr. Lorenzo Corsini is an entrepreneur and scientist. Prior to joining Equatic, he co-founded and built PhagoMed, a biotech startup developing precision antimicrobials, which was exited to BioNTech in 2021. Before that, he spent nine years at BCG in roles of increasing seniority. Lorenzo has degrees in biochemistry and business administration and a Ph.D. in molecular biology

All the links you need to get to know and follow today’s guest Equatic!

https://www.equatic.tech/

https://twitter.com/equatic_tech

UCLA ICM https://icm.ucla.edu/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenzo-corsini/

Jobs at Equatic - https://www.equatic.tech/careers

And Equatic (formerly SEA CHANGE) on TICDR Ep10 (Dec 2021) w/ SEA CHANGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XJ4A9yjeS8

https://www.equatic.tech/articles/equatic-launches-low-cost-gigaton-scale-technology-to-decarbonize-at-unprecedented-speed

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-12/new-carbon-dioxide-removal-project-relies-on-ocean-to-reach-net-zero

Paper on the science behind Equatic’s process https://www.equatic.tech/publications/electrolytic-seawater-mineralization-and-how-it-ensures-net-carbon-dioxide-removal.

This week we are pleased to welcome Carba founders CEO Dr. Andrew Jones and Senior Advisor Prof. Paul Dauenhauer to This Is CDR to discuss the company's method of long-duration CDR via biomass torrefaction and burial (BTB).

About Andrew:

Dr. Andrew Jones is an entrepreneur, scientist, inventor, and energy enthusiast. Before founding Carba, Andrew started and built Activated Research Company (ARC), an innovation firm that develops analytical technology for scientists. ARC’s portfolio of products includes a novel NSF-funded detector for pharmaceutical drug development, world-leading technology for CO2 measurement, and tools for analyzing biofuels. He and his work have been the recipient of several awards including Astronaut Scholar, R&D100, NSF Graduate Fellow, 35 and Under Young Entrepreneur Award, and MN Cup Energy/Clean Tech winner. He holds five patents.

About Paul:

Prof. Paul Dauenhauer is a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a MacArthur Fellow. His research focuses on developing new technologies for converting biomass—materials derived from organic, renewable sources—into the chemical building blocks of products that are currently sourced from fossil fuels. With expertise that spans reaction chemistry (specific chemical transformations) and catalysis engineering (accelerating reactions), Dauenhauer is opening new pathways for mitigating the environmental impacts of commodity chemicals.

All the links you need to get to know and follow today’s guests from Carba! Carba: https://www.carba.com/

Carba Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carbacarbon/

Dr. Andrew Jones Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjones-arc/ Prof. Paul Dauenhauer Bio: https://cse.umn.edu/cems/paul-dauenhauer

Dr. Andrew Jones Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewJonesARC

Prof. Paul Dauenhauer Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauldauenhauer

June 2023 paper on science behind Carba: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsengineeringau.2c00043 https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/the-carbon-problem

This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Holly Jean Buck back to This Is CDR to discuss her recent paper (with colleagues) "Why Residual Emissions Matter Right Now," and the implications of this work on the climate role of CDR.

About Holly:

Dr. Holly Jean Buck is a geographer and environmental social scientist studying rural futures, the politics of platforms, and how emerging technologies can address environmental challenges. She works as an Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, and has a Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Cornell University. She is the author of After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration and Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero Is Not Enough.

Links:

Dr. Buck's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hollyjeanbuck

Faculty Bio: https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/environment-sustainability/faculty/faculty-directory/holly-buck.html

Books: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/authors/buck-holly-jean

"Why Residual Emissions Matter Right Now" - Nature : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01592-2

This is CDR Ep. 19 with Dr. Buck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqhJvDtIAhw

Volts Podcast w/ Guest Dr. Buck: https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-trouble-with-net-zero#details

Referenced Content:

CDR Primer: https://cdrprimer.org/

Carbonomics Paper by Goldman Sachs: https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/carbonomics-affordability/report.pdf

In The Carbon Removal Blended Tonne White Paper, Nori proposes combining temporary and long-term carbon storage to create a credible pathway to net zero. Tune in to this discussion with Radhika Moolgavkar and Rick Berg from Nori’s Supply team to learn how the blended tonne can contribute to the funding of future, more durable carbon removal solutions while enabling ecosystem restoration and temporary carbon storage to support proper carbon accounting and removal.

Nori's Paper - https://nori.com/blog/carbon-removal-blended-tonne-whitepaper.

In this episode of This Is CDR we welcome back Mati Founder Shantanu to discuss how his new non-profit seeks to scale long duration carbon removal via enhanced weathering (EW) in partnership with smallholder farmers in India and other regions of the Global South.

ABOUT SHANTANU:

Shantanu Agarwal is a climate tech entrepreneur with more than 20 year of energy industry experience. Prior to founding Mati, Shantanu is Co-Founder and CEO for Sustaera, a company focused on Direct Air Capture of CO2 and also Co-Founder for climate tech R&D company Susteon.

Shantanu has served as board director of multiple startups and led investments as part of a energy technology VC fund in the past. Shantanu has also consulted with McKinsey & Co and worked with Schlumberger. Shantanu has an MBA from Harvard Business School, Cambridge, USA & B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Roorkee.

SESSION LINKS:

- https://mati.earth/

- https://twitter.com/mati_carbon

- https://twitter.com/shantanuagarwal

- Shantanu on TICDR w/ Sustaera (DAC) Ep27 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiUUsUuwesc

- Past EW TICDR episodes – Garrett Boudinot ex-Cornell CALS Ep2; Undo Ep28; Carbon Drawdown Ep44; Lithos Ep50; Eion Ep70 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1je2pACUAbKdS4529vLLHgZR2MGk9KLm

- Garrett Boudinot et. al. report in EW in Global South https://precisiondev.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IGSDPxD-ERW-- Enhanced-Rock-Weathering-in-the-Global-South-26-02-23-2.pdf

- Dail Ellis and John Sanchez blog on “leveling the playing field” for open-system CDR approaches like EW – https://greatunwind.substack.com/p/leveling-the-playing-field-for-open

- Recent David Beerling paper on agronomic cobenefits - https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.05343

This week on This Is CDR we are pleased to welcome Holy Grail CEO Nuno Pereira and CTO Sophie Griggs to present and discuss the company's modular electrochemical DAC process with mineral storage.

Presentation Links:

- https://www.holygrailcarbon.com/

- Linked In Nuno: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nunohg/

- Linked In Sophie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-griggs-2ab014a5/

About Nuno:

Nuno Pereira is the CEO of Holy Grail. Following his work as a designer, Nuno has a long track record of founding and leading start-ups within the energy and transportation industries. He holds a degree in Product Design from the Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Portugal.

About Sophie:

Sophie Griggs is the CTO of Holy Grail. Originally from the UK, she is a chemist with a Masters from Imperial College London and Ph.D. in materials chemistry at the University of Oxford. She is passionate about using her STEM background to fight climate change. She oversees technology development, IP strategy, procurement, and deployment.

Carbon accounting approaches for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are a patchwork. A combination of project-specific protocols, project-level due diligence and bespoke verification is the dominant approach. This characterizes a market that is still nascent with a limited variety of both buyers and suppliers of carbon removal credits.

In this webinar OpenAir hosts Christiaan Gevers Deynoot of South Pole to present the work of the CCS+ Initiative, a unique multi-stakeholder initiative established in 2021 with the mission to scale cutting edge climate technologies by developing a scalable carbon accounting infrastructure. The approach it takes departs from common practice to cater to the needs of a fully-fledged carbon management economy. The CCS+ Initiative is expected to issue its first methodologies for public consultation by the end of June.

LINKS:

- CCS+ Initiative: https://www.ccsplus.org/

- South Pole: https://www.southpole.com/

- OpenAir: https://openaircollective.cc/

LEARN ABOUT:

- Why it matters that CDR protocols across different markets increasingly converge.

- How today's disparate landscape of bespoke protocols can lead to standards.

- What CCS+ is doing to promote a race to the top in high quality carbon accounting.

- Following the presentation, we'll open the floor to audience Q&A moderated by OpenAir's Megha Raghavan.

ABOUT CHRISTIAAN:

Christiaan Gevers Deynoot has over ten years experience working on climate issues. He currently works as a Senior Manager for Carbon Removal Platforms at South Pole. In this role, he delivers high-quality consultancy mandates related to engineered carbon dioxide removal methods and conventional carbon capture and storage, with a focus on multi-stakeholder action platforms such as the CCS+ Initiative. Christiaan has a public affairs background in EU energy and climate policy and industrial decarbonization issues in the Benelux region.

In this episode of This Is CDR we are pleased to welcome Arbor CEO Brad Hartwig and CTO Andrés García-Clark to present and discuss the company's novel, compact, and modular BiCRS process.

Presentation Links:

- https://arbor.co/

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-hartwig/

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/andres-garcia-clark-5793443/

- (winning!) Frontier proposal – https://github.com/frontierclimate/carbon-removal-source-materials/blob/main/Project%20Applications/2022%20Fall/%5BArbor%5D%20Frontier%20Carbon%20Removal%20Purchase%20Application.pdf

- https://www.mcjcollective.com/my-climate-journey-podcast/arbor

- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.993230/full

About Brad:

Brad Hartwig began his career at SpaceX where he spent his early years developing the Draco rocket engine for Crew Dragon (as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program). After SpaceX, he worked as a Flight Test Engineer and Test Pilot at Kittyhawk while volunteering as a search and rescue specialist for Marin County and the CA Air National Guard.

After seeing the devastating effects of California's wildfires up close, Brad shifted his attention to contributing to the climate fight. He started Arbor with the rest of the founding team to draw down humanity's legacy carbon emissions. By converting waste biomass into carbon-negative electricity, he and the team feel they also have a compelling and imminent solution to the growing wildfire problem.

About Andrés:

Andrés García-Clark started working at General Electric, and did so for 13 years, developing advanced natural gas turbines that power cities. After this, he helped SpaceX develop the Raptor full flow staged engine over 5 years, going from clean sheet design to full testing and deploying into starship.

Through all these adventures, Andrés gave a lot of thought about our future and the world we are to leave our progeny. He came to the decision that here is where we make our current stand, and that we need to give a lot of focus on working on the carbon problem, which is the labor of our time. This led him to Arbor, where he works with the team developing a novel negative emissions energy plant, which can be used as a tool to remove CO2 from the atmosphere while producing energy. This approach can enable a circular economy where we recycle wastes and clean up the atmosphere at the same time!

This week on This Is CDR we are pleased to welcome Hannah Bebbington and Scott Litzelman from Stripe Climate to discuss the initial round of Frontier's offtake purchases.

About Frontier:

Frontier is an advance market commitment to buy an initial $925M of permanent carbon removal between 2022 and 2030. It was founded by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, McKinsey and tens of thousands of businesses using Stripe Climate.

In this episode of This Is CDR Toby and Megha welcome Andes Bio Co-Founder and CEO Gonzalo Fuenzalida-Meriz to present the company's innovative approach that leverages microorganisms to accelerate the sequestration of inorganic carbon in soils.

Andes Bio: https://www.andes.bio/

About Gonzalo:

Gonzalo Fuenzalida-Meriz Andes in 2018 along with Tania Timmermann. He is a serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience successfully leading biotechnology companies. Gonzalo has a background in business administration and economics and experience in investment banking before becoming an entrepreneur. He is originally from Chile and is now based in the Bay Area.