Innovation

Nature removes carbon from the atmosphere with the help of plants through photosynthesis. This carbon is then turned into biomass as plants die, and once this biomass decomposes, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere. Instead of releasing the carbon, Carbo Culture leverages nature’s carbon removal process by intercepting the cycle. This process takes the biomass to ultra-high heat, where it carbonizes, thus storing the carbon for over a thousand years. Biochar can then be stored in soil applications and innovations within construction.

The production process that Carbo Culture utilizes for turning biomass into biochar does not consume energy but instead produces renewable energy, using it in place of fossil fuels. In the future, clean energy could supply direct air capture plants to boost Carbo Culture’s impact.

Inspiration

“If climate change is not dealt with, few other things in life matter either.”

In 2013, the co-founders of Carbo Culture Oy, Henrietta Moon, and Chris Carstens, met during an intense three-month program at NASA Ames Research Centre. Henrietta and Chris shared a mission and strongly felt that if we do not deal with climate change, few other things in life will not matter. The team turned to nature for inspiration in creating both effective and profitable solutions for carbon removal. They examined the carbon cycle and figured out a way to efficiently intercept it, to capture the carbon before it re-enters the atmosphere.

Carbolysis™ is Carbo Culture patented production process for converting plant waste into biochar by using high amounts of pressure and heat. Carbo Culture was founded in 2016 and has since grown to an organization employing 20 people.

Henrietta and Chris are both passionate entrepreneurs who cleared that they “would not settle for anything less than a massive scale impact.” This ambition of their reflects in Carbo Culture journey towards its goal of removing one billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.

Overall impact

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is necessary to remove carbon from the atmosphere if the Paris Agreement targets to limit a maximum of 1.5 Celsius degrees of global warming. This target is an addition to the growing attempt to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. The current supply of carbon removal in the world is 30 million tons, but to keep us under the 1.5-degree target, this needs to grow to 2 billion tons. According to Hanna Ojanen from Carbo Culture, the company and the innovation can play their part in reaching the carbon removal goal. The carbon removal will contribute to the necessary reduction up to a scale in addition to the sustainable heat source generated during scaled production of the biochar. In Hanna’s own words, this carbon removal innovation would “contribute to the basic survival of the planet.”

The innovation links to many of the UN’s sustainable development goals, for example, Goal 7 – Affordable and clean energy, Goal 11 – Sustainable cities communities, and Goal 13 – Climate action. Defining, Goal 7 from the perspective of the heat from production, sold for distribution; a sustainable source of heat, which in the current climate conditions has a more positive impact on society. Goal 11: Utilizing actual biochar in construction and different soil applications created during the carbon removal process. Moreover, Goal 13 is at the core of Carbo Culture, as this innovation positively impacts the fight against climate change.

Business benefit

Carbo Culture has three distinct revenue streams in its innovation: carbon credits, heat distribution, and biochar. As Carbo Culture is removing carbon from the air, they can sell the excess carbon to other businesses and governments that want to offset their carbon footprint. Secondly, as already discussed earlier, the heat produced in the carbon-removing process can be sold to heat distributors and then used by consumers.

The third revenue stream is selling the actual mass created during the removal process – the biochar. This biochar produced can be sold to businesses for construction and soil applications, for instance. Biochar, for its part, contributes to maintaining more sustainable cities. The created mass is sustainable and essentially reused in another application which is both positive for Carbo Culture’s business and a positive move towards the UN’s sustainable development goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities.

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Social and environmental benefit

Carbo Culture’s innovation, at its core, is beneficial for society, especially the climate. When at scale, Carbo Culture will be contributing to the battle against climate change with their carbon removal solution, which is essential to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Not only will Carbo Culture contribute to the planet's survival but also develop a more sustainable future with their innovation that will help cities evolve. The source of heat provides a new, sustainable way of heating that would provide more viable heating options for consumers, decreasing other less sustainable heating ways.

Most impressive, however, is the use of the physical byproduct created during the carbon removal phase. Biochar can help build cities sustainably, meaning less waste but more sustainable building materials with better attributes. The innovation from Carbo Culture positively impacts multiple sustainable development goals, the environment, and a more sustainable future, created by the planet’s ecosystem with the help of human engineering and innovation. Altogether, Carbo Culture’s core mission positively impacts the environment contributing significantly to slowing down climate change.

Interview

Hanna Ojanen, Public Policy Lead