Here's my thoughts on the big new announcement from Climeworks -- with my video here.
Climeworks just announced their new Orca facility in Iceland. It can pull 4,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground in geological storage. This is the future of scaling carbon removal. From a lab, to a prototype, to ton scale, and beyond.
Climeworks started back in 2009 out of a lab in Switzerland out of ETH Zurich. A friend of mine visited their initial prototype that was extracting little bits of carbon from the air. Now it's up and running, getting news coverage around the world. Huge congratulations to the Climeworks team on this huge achievment!
Now we need 1,000 more startups like Climeworks to get to gigaton scale carbon removal.
Sam Altman tweeted recently (powered by GPT3):
The question isn't, "What will I be doing in 10 years?" The question is "What will I wish I'd started 10 years from now?"
10 years ago, Climeworks was one of <10 organizations even thinking about carbon removal. Today there are hundreds of people starting new attempts to scale carbon removal.
Looking at the AirMiners community I'm seeing so many incredible things getting started right now:
1. New startups at AirMiners Launchpad
We just kicked off Batch #2 of AirMiners Launchpad. I got so inspired hearing from entrepreneurs around the world working on an idea or prototype for carbon removal. They're trying to figure out how to turn it into a business. It gives me these early Climeworks vibes. What does this look like in 10 years? What does this look like when we've got hundreds of people taking a shot on goal?
(more updates to come on this)
2. Women AirMiners mentoring group
This is a mentoring group for women AirMiners who want to get support or support others in working on carbon removal solutions. I was invited to the orientation event and it was inspiring to meet the women who are leading and going to lead the next wave of carbon removal startups. Those leaders are here, today. For more info check out #women-airminers on AirMiners Slack.
3. Problem Pack groups working on a problem for 3 weeks
Is your investment “healthy”? Is your project “nutritious”? Those are the questions posed by the most recent Climate Sprints group. Using the Climate Sprints model, a team of air miners worked on mobilizing climate finance. They came up with this concept for nutrition lablels. I loved how the dynamic team approached the problem from different angles and came up with a new solution. You can watch their presentation here or learn about the project here. You can also check out other Climate Sprints here or start your own.
I'm excited to work with these AirMiners Launchpad companies over the next 6 weeks, seeing more from the WAM mentoring group (#women-airminers on Slack), and seeing more people jump onto climate sprints.
It's an opportunity for many people to change a career, start a company, invent something new. AirMiners works to systemetize and structure new carbon removal solutions.
10 years from now, what will you wish you started today?
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