Episodes

  • S3 #5 | How can companies contribute to industry scale?: Gigaton thinking - with MASH Makes

    S3 #5 | How can companies contribute to industry scale?: Gigaton thinking - with MASH Makes
    Jan 30 2024

    What happens when an individual company bakes industry scale up into their business philosophy? In this episode, Jakob Andersen shares the “gigaton thinking” mindset that drives his company, MASH Makes, in their approach to business and biochar.

    MASH Makes started as a project at the Technological University of Denmark focusing on technology that could convert various waste streams (mainly residue biomass) into different energy products. In short, MASH Makes use automated machines that are able to produce bio oil, hydrogen and electricity from agricultural waste, with the main byproduct of this process being biochar – a soil amendment that actively absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.

    Big thanks to MASH Makes for supporting this episode.

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com.

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
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    40 mins
  • S3 #4 | The importance of fungibility in carbon markets - with Carbonaires

    S3 #4 | The importance of fungibility in carbon markets - with Carbonaires
    Jan 16 2024

    With scaling up in mind, this episode dives into an innovative concept that could help the industry take big steps forward. Tom and Emily are joined by Jonny Gilson from Carbonaires and Professor Niall Mac Dowell from Imperial College London to discuss Carbonaires’ ideas for the future of the voluntary carbon market. 

    Big thanks to Carbonaires for supporting this episode.

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com.

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
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    25 mins
  • S3 #3 | 2023: Year in review

    S3 #3 | 2023: Year in review
    Jan 9 2024
    2023 was a big year for carbon removal! With only 27 years until 2050, Tom and Emily look back on the last 12 months to reflect on the current stage of the industry’s growth commercially, socially and politically. With big thanks to the organisers, speakers and participants of Carbon Unbound Europe 2023 for welcoming us to the event and for all the inspiration. Huge thanks to all our guests in this episode: Sebastian Manhart, Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture Oliver Katz, Founder and CEO of Unbound Summits Michelle Li, Founder and Executive Director of Women and Climate Gabrielle Walker, Co-Founder of CUR8 and Founder of Rethinking Removals Bilha Ndirangu, CEO at Great Carbon Valley Ted Christie-Miller, Director of Carbon Removal at BeZero Carbon And our very own Producer Ben, making his on-mic debut for The Carbon Removal Show! We also shout out a lot of other hard working CDR companies and organisations in this episode: CDR.fyiCarbon Removals at COPMission ZeroHeirloomClimeworksRewind: biomass sinkingBrilliant Planet: macroalgaeEquatic: ocean direct carbon removalDeutscher Verband für negative EmissionenCO2RE Future Leaders Network: join the SlackWomen and Climate: join the Slack To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com. And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show. Resources and further reading Climeworks and Great Carbon Valley chart path to large-scale direct air capture and storage deployment in Kenya: https://climeworks.com/news/climeworks-and-great-carbon-valley-chart-path-to-large-scale-dac  Mission Zero turns on UK’s first direct air capture plant to enable jet fuel made from air: https://www.missionzero.tech/news/uk-first-direct-air-capture-plant  Suck carbon from the air? US facility launches novel climate solution: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/19/carbon-dioxide-direct-air-capture  On the durability of biochar carbon storage: https://biochar.systems/durability-statement/ Assessing biochar's permanence: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166516223002276?via%3Dihub  Frontier Makes Largest Carbon Removal Purchase From Lithos Carbon: https://carbonherald.com/frontier-makes-largest-carbon-removal-purchase-from-lithos-carbon/ Carbonfuture, Exomad Green, and Microsoft Sign One of the Largest Biochar Carbon Removal Deals To-Date: https://www.carbonfuture.com/project-showcase/carbonfuture-announces-innovative-offtake-collaboration-with-exomad-green-and-microsoft-for-large-scale-biochar-carbon-removal  COP28 — Mixed Results on Removals, Markets and Carbon Capture: https://evetamme.com/2023/12/14/cop28-on-carbon-removal-ccs-and-markets/  Why Carbon Removals Are Center Stage At COP28: https://www.forbes.com/sites/phildeluna/2023/12/07/why-carbon-removals-are-center-stage-at-cop28/?sh=26a7e1e82c68  Climeworks Direct Air Capture Summit 2023 Highlights: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://climeworkscom.cdn.prismic.io/climeworkscom/9493f4d4-676f-47cc-a1f8-8959bc84abee_DAC%2BSummit%2Bhighlights%2B2023%2B%25282%2529.pdf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1704643167135658&usg=AOvVaw1O0rP7eNt04mSMiYQB3UKo Paying for Quality: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2023: https://3298623.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3298623/SOVCM%202023/2023-EcoMarketplace_SOVCM-Nov28_FINALrev-1.pdf The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal Report: https://www.stateofcdr.org/ Fossil-fuel industry embrace raises alarm bells over direct air capture: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/fossil-fuel-industry-embrace-raises-alarm-bells-over-direct-air-capture-2023-10-10/ Biden picks two DAC hubs for federal funding: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/cen-10127-buscon1
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    48 mins
  • S3 #2 | Analogies for scale: what other technologies can teach us about carbon removal

    S3 #2 | Analogies for scale: what other technologies can teach us about carbon removal
    Dec 19 2023
    Season 3 continues and the team remains focused on scaling up. The question today: has it been done before? The task ahead is huge and can sometimes feel insurmountable. In order to deliver what scientists say is needed, the carbon removal industry must go from the young seedling emerging market we know today to a great complex ecosystem - and time is against us. Has this level of growth ever been seen before? In today’s episode, Tom and Emily go hunting for reassuring precedents and inspirational analogies. Every global industry that we now take for granted was once a young seedling too. How do those industries compare to CDR? What can we learn from their development? And will looking at their histories help us feel more prepared for the future? In this episode, we listen back to brief clips from Sophie Purdom, co-founder of CTVC, and Dr Steve Smith, executive director of CO2RE. We first heard from them in season 1 episode 1 and season 2 episode 2 respectively. To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com. And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show. Resources and further reading Analogies and ecoraps for more carbon removal - https://medium.com/nori-carbon-removal/analogies-and-ecoraps-for-more-carbon-removal-3f4e8d92d1b4 Explaining the Exponential Growth of Renewable Energy - https://www.wri.org/insights/growth-renewable-energy-sector-explained  Developments in wind power - https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0602/  The Hole: How Ronnie and Maggie Saved the World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2JzOlRff08&t=1s Back from the brink: how the world rapidly sealed a deal to save the ozone layer - https://rapidtransition.org/stories/back-from-the-brink-how-the-world-rapidly-sealed-a-deal-to-save-the-ozone-layer/  Learning from Success: Lessons in Science and Diplomacy from the Montreal Protocol - https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2020/learning-success-lessons-in-science-and-diplomacy-montreal-protocol  Should carbon removal be treated as waste management? Lessons from the cultural history of waste - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0010#d1e755  Is the UK’s waste infrastructure ready for a circular economy - https://rrfw.org.uk/2018/01/08/is-the-uks-waste-infrastructure-ready-for-a-circular-economy/  Shifting the Direct Air Capture Paradigm - https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/solving-direct-air-carbon-capture-challenge How have COVID-19 vaccines been developed so fast - https://www.immunology.org/public-information/vaccine-resources/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-infographics/speed-of-development  A Guide to Global COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts - https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/guide-global-covid-19-vaccine-efforts How COVID‐19 vaccine supply chains emerged in the midst of a pandemic - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8447169/ How did we develop a COVID-19 vaccine so quickly? - https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-did-we-develop-a-covid-19-vaccine-so-quickly  Smart phones: https://blog.textedly.com/smartphone-history-when-were-smartphones-invented https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/07/11/overview-of-smartphone-adoption/ https://www.pcmag.com/archive/smartphone-adoption-rate-fastest-in-tech-history-301990 https://www.govtech.com/products/how-smartphones-revolutionized-society-in-less-than-a-decade.html https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-have-smartphones https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world Streaming continues to overtake TV - https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2023/05/16/streaming-continues-to-overtake-tv/ The rise of social media - https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media
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    45 mins
  • S3 #1 | Getting serious about scale

    S3 #1 | Getting serious about scale
    Dec 12 2023

    We are back! Did you miss us?

    Kicking off Season 3, Tom and Emily are exploring what it will take to grow the carbon removal industry to the scale we need. They speak to various actors in the carbon removal space, from project developers and policy experts to marketplaces and buyers. Their curiosity for the scaling problem took the team on a trip to Basel, Switzerland for a CDR conference hosted by Carbonfuture: Carbon Removal Basel.

    The team uses this episode to highlight some key themes around trust and scaling up that will be explored throughout the season.

    A huge thanks to our guests

    Jan Minx, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, MCC and co-author of The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report

    Hannes Junginger, CEO and co-founder at Carbonfuture

    Ben Brandt, CPO and co-founder at Ledgy

    Adam Sipthorpe, Senior Portfolio Manager - CDRs at South Pole

    Paolo Piffaretti, CEO and co-founder at Carbonx

    Sebastian Manhart, Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture

    Our guests for this episode were recorded in April 2023. Their input reflects the individuals' and organisations’ views at that time.

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com.

    Thanks to Carbonfuture for hosting us at their inaugural Carbon Removal Basel even

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.


    Resources

    State of CDR: https://www.stateofcdr.org/resources

    Carbonfuture’s recap of Carbon Removal Basel: https://www.carbonfuture.com/magazine/recap-of-carbon-removal-basel-2023 

    Carbon Removal Basel retirement credits: https://platform.carbonfuture.earth/balancer/portfolios/view/main/50fa5b10-e4de-412c-8d75-0d1df060a63b
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    34 mins
  • S2 #10 | Ocean-based carbon removal part 2: What's happening along our coastlines?

    S2 #10 | Ocean-based carbon removal part 2: What's happening along our coastlines?
    Nov 16 2022

    The world’s coastal areas are some of the most at risk places on earth when it comes to climate change, but could they potentially be some of the most valuable places for creating solutions too?

    It’s time for part two in our mini-series on Oceans and... it's the Season two finale!

    As we established in last week’s episode, oceans are now becoming a much bigger part of the climate conversation and are a huge site of interest for carbon removal innovation. In this episode Tom and Emily will be taking a deeper look at some of the most exciting coastal-based solutions that are popping up. 

    They’ll be putting another biomass-based solution into focus – mangroves; they’ll be discussing The Blue Carbon Challenge, a program launched by Friends of Ocean Action to find viable solutions in blue carbon; and they’ll be looking at an interesting ocean-based take on rock weathering - an entirely different context to what we’ve looked at in previous episodes!

    A note from our fact-checking corner: midway through this episode we discuss the relative rates of carbon sequestration of mangrove forests vs. the tropical forests you may be more familiar with. For the sake of clarity, we wanted to say here that mangroves store more carbon per year than the forests we mention on a per hectare basis. Forests still come out on top in absolute terms – not to take anything away from the magnificent role of mangroves

    A huge thanks to our guests:  

    Ronald Tardiff, Pillar Lead at Friends of Ocean Action

    Kelly Erhart, President & Co-Founder at Vesta

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to restored.cc.

    Thanks to Patch for sponsoring the podcast.

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
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    50 mins
  • S2 #9 | Ocean-based carbon removal part 1: What's so special about kelp?

    S2 #9 | Ocean-based carbon removal part 1: What's so special about kelp?
    Nov 9 2022

    The time has finally come to talk about ocean-based carbon removal!

    In this episode (the first in our two-part mini-series on Oceans) Tom and Emily will be exploring the role that oceans can play in carbon removal.

    They'll be focusing on the way kelp is being used as a biomass-based approach to carbon removal speaking to two companies who are using kelp as a carbon removal solution, in very different ways.

    Many thanks to our guests in this week's episode:

    • Marty Odlin, Founder at Running Tide
    • Caroline Hooft-Slootweg, Co-Founder at Kelp Blue

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to restored.cc.

    Thanks to Patch for sponsoring the podcast.

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
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    46 mins
  • S2 #8 | Aledade's carbon removal story: How can smaller companies do more in this space?

    S2 #8 | Aledade's carbon removal story: How can smaller companies do more in this space?
    Sep 28 2022

    It's not only big names like Microsoft who are addressing their impact on the climate crisis, there are lots of smaller organisations appearing on carbon removal buyer lists too!

    This week's episode puts a spotlight on Aledade, a US healthcare services organisation with an interesting philosophy and strategy behind their carbon removal purchases.

    We speak to Will Palmisano, Head of Aledade's climate committee, to learn more about their carbon removal mission, how they’re going about it and what their work can teach us about how companies of all sizes can get involved in carbon removal in a meaningful way.

    Thanks to Aledade for sponsoring the episode and for sharing their story.

    Please note that since the recording of this episode the stats quoted from CDR.fyi have been significantly superseded. Visit CDR.fyi for the most up to date statistics.

    To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to restored.cc.

    Thanks to Patch for sponsoring the podcast.

    And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
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    54 mins