I just bought a ton of carbon!
What makes this special is it's the *first* ton of carbon removed by Seaweed Generation. (video of this message here)
It happened at the kickoff for batch #5 of the AirMiners Launchpad accelerator. Every team gives a quick pitch about what they're doing and their goals for the program. Paddy from Seaweed Generation said "Our goal is to sell one ton of carbon to a customer".
I asked how much, the price was good, so....Sold! Like most experiments with early stage startups, there wasn't much process, I just sent them the money through Venmo afterwards.
You too can remove carbon from the air! Yes, my purchase is 1,000x smaller than removal purchases by Frontier, Microsoft, and Southpole. But there are some major non-financial benefits to my purchase. For one, this might help innovators get over the intense pressure of "finding the first customer", like Anne Lemott's version of "Shitty First Drafts". It also might nudge teams to get a bit more serious...now they're on the hook for delivering carbon removal! I also bought the first ton from Tau Carbon too a few days later, they're another batch #5 team. I'm curious about how these first-ton sales might unlock rapid progress.
Taking a step back, this experiment really got me wondering about the role of individual action in carbon removal.
What other ways our community can support new solutions? How else can individuals participate?
We have great discussions on Slack, events, and connections. What other fun, weird, or counter-inuitive things could unlock new solutions, especially individual actions? After all, we're trying to build an industry faster than ever done before, so all options are on the table. I'm sure there's other ideas and I would love to hear about them from you. What other expierments could we try? Hit reply!
I write a weekly newsletter highlighting the AirMiners community and carbon removal industry.
Every week you’ll get insider perspective and community stories from the cutting edge of carbon removal.
The purpose of this newsletter is to accelerate the carbontech industry by speeding up connections, progress, and coordination. It's ideal for people working in carbon removal already, or beginners who want one individual's perspective. People curious about carbon removal are encouraged to sign up and see what sticks.
Subscribe here to get the next weekly update as soon it comes out.