Microsoft signed a multi-year deal with Gaia - a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Vestforbrænding for 2.95 MtCO₂ engineered removals.
🚨Georgia Tech researchers have developed a low-cost method to pull CO₂ from the air (#DAC) using cold temperatures and common materials, potentially slashing capture costs to ~$70 per ton and expanding where Direct Air Capture can work. #CDR
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2/ DAC is a critical tool for fighting climate change, but it’s been too expensive to scale.
Current systems often exceed $200 per ton of CO₂ captured, partly due to the high energy needed to run them.
3/ The Georgia Tech team found a smart way to tap into existing industrial cold from liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
When LNG is regasified for use, huge amounts of cold energy are wasted (energy that can chill air for better CO₂ capture).
New study revealed that Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away CO2, sweeten surrounding soil & still yield fruit. #CarbonRemoval
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2/ Some Kenyan fig trees, like Ficus wakefieldii, store CO₂ not just as organic matter (wood/leaves) but also as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) - the same mineral as chalk or limestone.
This process is called the oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP).
3/ PROCESS:
First, the tree forms calcium oxalate crystals inside its wood.
Then, special microbes (oxalotrophic microorganisms) or fungi convert these crystals into CaCO₃.
This locks up carbon in mineral form that can persist in soil far longer than organic carbon.
🚨What if we bet too much on future carbon removal tech and it doesn’t deliver?
New study shows that over-relying on #CDR like DACCS & BECCS could let fossil fuel emissions continue longer, delay action, and raise costs later.
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2/ Many net-zero plans assume large-scale CDR. But techs like direct air capture (DACCS) & bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) are tiny today and scaling them is risky due to land, energy & cost barriers.
3/ Researchers ran 6 scenarios using GCAM:
-Stage 1: Plan for high or low CDR now
-Stage 2: Learn mid-century whether high CDR is actually feasible or not, and then adjust policy or not
They tracked emissions, energy shifts, costs & who bears the burden.