• The article discusses the urgent need to address global climate change and introduces Carbon Engineering as a potential solution. The founder, David Keith, aims to develop technologies that can extract CO2 from the environment. Keith, a professor at Harvard University, believes that limiting CO2 emissions alone is not enough; existing CO2 must also be removed.
• Carbon Engineering specializes in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, which can capture CO2 from the atmosphere on a large scale and deploy it worldwide. The purified CO2 can be used in various industries, including the production of synthetic fuels, carbon capture and storage, construction, and agriculture.
• The technology has garnered attention from notable investors like Bill Gates. The article emphasizes the importance of supporting initiatives like Carbon Engineering to combat climate change and protect the future of our planet.
Nostalgia is a pretty average word, but it holds a deep meaning inside. And spikes the minds with a sweet hint of the past. What it costs you to feel nostalgic is just a single act, like the smell of the first rain or a bite of the first ice cream of the season.
It just takes you back to the times when you were a little, when you used to go to the park to play cricket in the noon and sit in the shade of the tree until the ice cream cart guy came and you raced with your friends to the cart and buy an orange bar and show off your tongues new color to each other.
But that seems to be a memory for a reason nowadays, the summers are extremely hot, the monsoon feels like an extended period of summer, and sometimes it rains in summer. Winter seems to be shorter but louder. In the total sense of things, Global Climate Change is not a myth anymore, It’s here.
And it’s destroying our future. In this destruction, one of the frontiers on the side of evil is CO2. The by-product which we emit as well. We inhale oxygen and exhale a mixture of gasses that contains 4-5% of CO2. However, most of the CO2 content is being produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
CO2 is earth's most important greenhouse gas, but due to its constantly rising levels is posing a threat of climate change which is emerging as an existential threat to our civilization.
Frontiers of the Good
They are people who are trying to bring down CO2 emissions by efforts, and it’s working but not on the scale on which it’s visible. But this is what brings David Keith into the picture.
David Keith is the founder as well as the Chief Scientist of Carbon Engineering which he founded in 2009 with the goal of developing technologies that can extract CO2 from the environment in the purest form. His idea is that limiting our CO2 emissions will not work alone. We will have to remove the CO2, which is already in the environment as well.
David is a Professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University and has published numerous papers on climate science, energy technology, and public policy. Carbon Engineering is working on making fuels that don't produce carbon emissions.
They want to turn clean energy into liquid fuels that can be used in existing transportation systems. Keith and his team estimate that they can capture CO2 for a cost of $94 to $232 per metric ton, which is significantly cheaper than other methods of capturing carbon and will help sustain our planet. They believe that we should make our planet more habitat, not destroy ours, and find a new one. And I love this idea.
The weapon they are building
Carbon Engineering specializes in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, which captures CO2 directly from the atmosphere and converts it into a purified form that can be used in various industries. The main thing that I think is the plus point of this technology is that it is designed to work on a large scale and can be deployed anywhere in the world.
And that’s what makes it the weapon for the frontiers to fight climate change. The applications of this weapon are helping us to use it better in war.
Negative Emission- DAC technology is removing CO2 from the atmosphere. This means it’s lowering the CO2 levels, which are already high now, so we can live healthy lives wherever we are.
Synthetic Fuel- The purified form of CO2 is used in producing synthetic fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and Jet fuel, using renewable energy sources. This reduces the Carbon Footprint of the transportation sector.
Carbon Capture and Storage- DAC technology can also be used in industrial processes and power plants to capture CO2 emissions and then store them underground, which makes the carbon footprint of these industries significantly less.
Other beneficiaries of this technology
Construction- CarbonBuilt is a US-based company specializing in carbon capture and utilization technologies and has found a way to produce low-carbon concrete. This makes the utilization of CO2 more beneficial.
Agriculture- CO2 is an essential gas for plants because plants inhale that to be alive. That’s why captured CO2 is also being used in greenhouses for the enhanced growth of plants.
This just hyped me for seeing it in the future and working. And many more people too. National Geographic, Economic Times, The New York Times, and Forbes have mentioned them. They have raised $110 Million over 9 Rounds. Names of investors who backed them include Chevron, Oxy, Air Canada, Bill Gates, etc. So you know, if Bill Gates is involved, then it’s a sure deal.
Final call
In this world, everyone is trying to predict the future of the next generation and trying to decide the fate of our planet. Most of the tech mega giants’ founder is involved in a space program of their own or each other's.
Because they believe in themselves, and instead of trying to save our planet, they are trying to accrue another one. We even sold properties on the moon, so there’s nothing for me to say there.
It’s good for technological advancement, but if doomsday is approaching soon, the question I get is where will the poor go? What will happen to us? There is a show on Netflix called Love, Death & Robot. It is a great watch.
They showed the possibility of it all, and it scared me to my bones. But there is nothing for us to do but control ourselves, do what we can do on our level, plant more trees use fewer fuels, and support the ones who are trying to save our world, so go, David Keith. I am with you. Are you guys with him too?
Edited by Shruti Thapa
