This article is the second part of a previous article on the blog, click here to read it first. We are required to be carbon negative to hit our 1.5 degree celsius compared to pre industrial levels. While there is some good intention for the world to hit our targets, government policies currently do not provide adequate assistance for such projects to begin to develop. In part one of this article, I spoke about the various methods that current carbon capture projects use, some of which involve reselling that same captured carbon dioxide back to oil companies for enhanced oil recovery. In this article, I will be talking about various additional methods of carbon capture as well as the companies involved, their projects, their uses, and finally end off by looking at where carbon capture fits within the fight against global warming.

For the sustainability you don’t yet know.

The Carbon Capture Scene (Part 2)

Written by Andrew Kaprielian

This article is the second part of a previous article on the blog, click here to read it first. We are required to be carbon negative to hit our 1.5 degree celsius compared to pre industrial levels. While there is some good intention for the world to hit our targets, government policies currently do not provide adequate assistance for such projects to begin to develop. In part one of this article, I spoke about the various methods that current carbon capture projects use, some of which involve reselling that same captured carbon dioxide back to oil companies for enhanced oil recovery. In this article, I will be talking about various additional methods of carbon capture as well as the companies involved, their projects, their uses, and finally end off by looking at where carbon capture fits within the fight against global warming.

Elon Musk invests in carbon capture idea competition

There has been much research and funding into carbon capture. In my previous article, I wrote about how Elon Musk had decided to award $100 Million to the best carbon capture idea. That clearly meant that someone that influential wanted to do something but lacked the time. Since then, 18 teams in a competition were handed $250,000 to continue developing their ideas. This may not sound like much money but these were university students looking for funding for their research. The link to the various ideas is here, and I highly recommend looking through these ideas.

Dubai 2020 World Expo and the future of carbon capture projects

I also had a chance to visit the 2020 World Expo in Dubai last year where one of their main aims was about looking into the future of sustainability. In Expo 2020, I visited the Pavillion of Norway, where they gave an entire presentation about sustainable oceans (keep in mind that Norway is a big player when it comes to oil and gas). They gave this crazy idea that they are researching disposing captured carbon into the ocean. This idea sounds great but is very risky if not done properly and can damage the environment for decades to come. The method mentioned is called Oceanic Carbon Sequestration. The idea is that the pressure of the water is enough to hold down the carbon dioxide for years to come. So why Norway? This is because the north seas is one of the places on earth that has the capability of holding down that much pressure while still being able to actually inject the liquid C02 without destroying the pipe.

The next idea involves putting C02 back to where it came from. Geologists in the UNited states believed that captured C02 can be injected back into the basins within the United States about 1-4.5 km into the ground. The risk is that if the C02 leaks, it can cause a global disaster. This is known as Geological Sequestration.

Now who is involved with these investments?

We know that oil companies already benefit from capturing carbon dioxide at source and using that carbon dioxide to drill for more oil. We’ve already spoken about Elon musk and his competition for funding but other noteworthy individuals include Bill Gates and his investments in Verdox and Heirloom. The project for Carbon Capture in Norway is called Northern Lights and has the backing of the EU as well as the Norwegian Government through their Sovereign Wealth Fund. In my previous article, I spoke about a project in Iceland where it would have the capacity of 40,000 trees per year. My recommendation is that these plants should be placed in areas that have a problem of Smog like Shanghai or New Delhi. More notable organizations include, a local carbon capture company (a subsidiary of an Italian oil company) called Saipem Quebec, two American companies, one called Global Thermostat, and the other called NetPower, and finally, one large company called Climework working in collaboration with Northern lights and Carbfix.

Now looking back at the bigger picture, Blackrock is pushing companies to be more mindful about the climate crisis or risk no investment from the biggest fund in the world. In the letter to CEO’s, Larry Fink focused on companies to start thinking about implementing carbon offsets. What we can hope for is that carbon capture projects continue to keep on getting more funding and more research as it is vital for the fight against the climate crisis by reducing carbon dioxide