Hardware to Save a Planet · 24 Oct 2024 · 43m · Episode 64
Alisha Fredriksson, Co-Founder and CEO of Seabound, explains how her company uses modular shipping containers to capture CO2 from ship exhaust via calcium looping technology. She details the business model of selling containers and swapping them with fresh limestone, addressing the high cost of alternative fuels and regulatory pressure from the IMO and EU ETS. Fredriksson discusses her journey as a non-technical founder, emphasizing customer discovery and a technology-agnostic approach to solving hard-to-abate shipping emissions.
early-stage companies
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Dr. Lynn Loo, CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), explains why decarbonizing shipping requires a diverse portfolio of fuels rather than a single solution like sustainable aviation fuel. She details the operational challenges of low-volumetric-energy-density fuels like methanol and ammonia, the regulatory pressure from the IMO’s revised greenhouse gas strategy, and the potential role of onboard carbon capture as an interim measure.
Alissa Peterson, co-founder and executive director of SeaAhead, discusses the intersection of blue tech and climate tech, focusing on decarbonizing shipping through alternative fuels like ammonia and methanol, and expanding offshore wind innovation beyond turbines to cable protection and biodiversity. She details emerging carbon removal strategies, including sinking kelp and ocean alkalinity enhancement using olivine, while highlighting the critical scientific gaps in measurement, verification, and permanence (MRV). Peterson emphasizes that while permitting is difficult, targeted innovation can mitigate ecosystem impacts, arguing that the sector must avoid the boom-bust cycles of previous clean tech waves by securing rigorous science and sustainable business models.
Shashank Samala, co-founder and CEO of Heirloom, explains how his company built North America’s first operational direct air capture facility in Tracy, California, using a novel limestone-based process to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Samala details the technical approach of baking limestone into calcium oxide to create 'trays' that absorb CO2, contrasting this with expensive synthetic materials used by competitors like Climeworks. He discusses the business model, noting that Heirloom sells carbon removal credits to major corporations like Microsoft, Stripe, and Meta, aiming to scale production to 1 million tons per year by leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act’s 45Q tax credits. The episode covers Heirloom’s journey from a garage-stage startup to scaling production, highlighting their goal to build 1,000 facilities globally to remove 1 billion tons of CO2 annually by the 2030s.
Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and CEO of Climeworks, explains how his company is building the world's largest direct air capture facility, the Orca plant in Iceland, which removes 4,000 tons of CO2 annually. He details the technology's modular design, using filter materials that capture CO2 and release it when heated, allowing for permanent underground storage in basaltic rock. Wurzbacher discusses the company's journey from selling CO2 to greenhouses and Coca-Cola to securing $650 million in Series 6 funding to scale operations. He argues that while emission reductions are critical, removing 10 billion tons of CO2 yearly by 2050 requires scalable technological solutions like Climeworks, which he compares to the rapid cost reduction seen in solar PV.
Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and CEO of Climeworks, explains how he and co-founder Christoph Gebald built the world’s largest direct air capture facility, the Orca plant in Iceland, which removes 4,000 tons of CO2 annually. Wurzbacher details the company's evolution from selling captured CO2 to Coca-Cola and greenhouses to providing permanent carbon removal services for corporate clients like Microsoft and private individuals. He discusses the massive scaling challenges, including the need for 10 billion tons of annual removal by 2050, the capital intensity of hardware, and the strategic importance of pairing capture facilities with renewable energy sources like geothermal power.
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