Technology brands tackling carbon emissions

Brands tackling carbon emissions: a look at industry initiatives and innovations

Throughout November, we are looking at the innovative brands tackling carbon emissions across industry sectors -from beauty and fashion to food & beverage, product design and materials, to technology, travel & hospitality.

Part 6: Technology

With scientists warning that 10 gigatonnes of net CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere to keep the global temperature rise under 1.5°C by 2050, the urgent quest to meet net zero (or, increasingly, carbon positive) goals is sparking a cross-industry wave of innovation. As such, eco-minded brands are not only looking to reduce emissions but also exploring carbon sequestration – a sector that’s set to be worth $15.5bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% (Research & Markets, 2021). 

Below, we look at the tech industry leaders tackling carbon emissions

India’s first carbon capture plant was recently commissioned by Mumbai-headquartered Tata Steel, employing tech by UK-based specialists Carbon Clean. The modular unit, installed on the blast furnace at Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur site, is currently capturing five tonnes of CO2 per day. The extracted gas is then made available for onsite reuse in a variety of applications; once depleted, it’s sent back to the gas network with an increased calorific value.

Southern Green Gas Ltd manufactures fully solar-powered Direct Air Capture modules. Unlike the aforementioned tech that captures CO2 from point sources of pollution, these preferentially absorb the gas from the atmosphere to deliver negative emissions. The Australian company’s September-launched partnership with Zurich-based reinsurance firm Swiss Re will ramp up the testing and development of carbon sequestration processes with a selection of projects and stakeholders.

In response to the criticisms levelled at carbon capture (for instance, that it misdirects focus away from reducing emissions – effectively letting big polluters off the hook), Swiss Re argues that a combination of conservation, renewable energy and CO2 sequestration will be required to tackle the climate crisis. “Nature-based solutions are accessible and ready to use but will not do the job alone,” said Mark Senkevics, head of property & casualty underwriting, Asia, Australia & New Zealand at Swiss Re. “So, we must drive a balanced mix of natural and tech solutions to achieve and sustain the 1.5°C target."

In September 2021, the world’s largest direct air carbon capture and storage plant, Orca, started operations in Iceland. The plant sucks carbon dioxide from the air and uses a natural mineralisation process, where it is mixed with water to pump it deep underground to be stored in rock. Likened to “a vacuum cleaner for the atmosphere,” the facility has the capacity to remove 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Image credit: Orca

For Zero Emissions Day 2021, Swiss company Climeworks created a carbon footprint calculator to give consumers more visibility about their environmental impact. By incorporating location and lifestyle factors, the tool calculates their daily average footprint and then allows them to pay to offset their usage, clicking the amount of CO2 they’d like to remove.

Having successfully completed a two-year pilot in June 2021, Australian sustainable tech firm Calix is now commercialising its patented kiln that captures carbon dioxide from limestone during the production of lime and cement. Cement manufacturing accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions, producing more than four billion tonnes of CO2 per year – two-thirds of which comes from heating limestone to produce lime and cement.

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk launched the international XPrize Carbon Removal competition this year, challenging designers to develop devices that can extract a gigaton of CO2 annually from the atmosphere or oceans. The $100m reward is the largest incentive prize in history.

Image credit: XPrize

One plan vying for the prize is Pull To Refresh, which would harness carbon-sucking giant bladder kelp – grown on a fleet of semi-autonomous vessels equipped with floats, solar panels, cameras and satellite antennas – in the open ocean. The idea’s scalability and reliability is far from proven so far, but was likely influenced by studies estimating that kelp could have the capacity to capture up to 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year (Energy Futures Initiative, 2020).

Image credit: Climeworks, Pull To Refresh

 
 
 

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