Carbon Removal Newsroom

Today's submission is about why perhaps less scrutiny is shown to artisanal biochar than industrial, and how that actually may be harmful to these artisanal biochar project developers. Will dMRV providers notice? But first...Is this a diary?I intended for Climate Workers Anonymous to be a conduit for the submissions of others, but reading them always make me think. When they are simple calls for a better world, I love it. When you decry hypocrisy, I’m at the barricades with you. When you’re staring into the scale of our climate work and the resulting feelings of hopelessness, I’ll match you sentiment for sentiment.Do you not have all of these inside of you too? Do you not show them or hide them depending upon the social context?Climate Workers Anonymous is at least partially an attempt to widen the context of climate and carbon dioxide removal work beyond toxic positivity and taking corporate climate action at face value. But I’m wondering if there is room enough in this project to bring some of my own feelings in sometimes.Maybe it’s a one-off. But I’m going to share with you today where I am.Sometimes you show up to make a show and there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes you’re going through a hard personal time and have to smile through your work calls. Sometimes you might be extremely concerned for the future of your country let alone species let alone the more-than-human world. And sometimes it can all just burst out without necessarily having the right headings and spacings and sequencing. Right now, it’s all laid out.If that’s how you’re feeling today, let it rip. I have these days too as is plain to see.Thanks so much to today's submitter and for being brave in your work in carbon dioxide removal.Sincerely,Ross Kenyon--------------------------Thank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe to Substack below, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please do that for me now? Here’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail.Did you connect with this edition of Climate Workers Anonymous? Share this out with your network and help it get seen.Here are some things the audio referenced that didn’t make it into the essay above:* Daniel Schmachtenberger’s work.* Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Things are going poorly for you? That’s too bad, because I’m having a grand ol’ time.Are you subscribed to Climate Workers Anonymous? Do so now to listen in and read whenever a new edition is released and support this fledgling collective art project.Welcome to Climate Workers Anonymous, where those who work in climate are able to share the feelings and experiences they want to share but aren’t sure they want attached to their name.They might want that anonymity because they’ve got some biting satirical take their corporate employer would frown upon. Maybe it’s someone trying to scale their company’s impact but is dubious that all of the levels of governance in carbon dioxide removal do as much good as is claimed. Or maybe they want anonymity because their company is doing well when many of their peers are not. That can be its own form of loneliness.As I was recording this and trying to describe this feeling, I got stuck onto “the ghost at the feast” that people associate so strongly with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.But that’s not quite right. In the play, Banquo’s ghost shows up, Macbeth is the only character who can see him, and it causes Macbeth to act very erratically, ruining the feast for the guests and especially Lady Macbeth.For this submission, it’s more like the submitter is a vigorous person who somehow wandered into a “meal” for ghosts. The submitter’s contentment, health, and ability to sate their hunger can’t help but cause the ghosts envy and grief by merely existing in their presence.This type of inequality—even if earned entirely through meritocratic means (though it’s for me to know where such a thing could exist in the world such as it is)—can make us uncomfortable. As I read the submission, the submitter is proud of their strategy and ability to execute and good read of macro conditions and wants to promenade their success without necessarily wishing any else will or a lack of success.I do wonder in a case like this, if it would be less satisfying to the submitter if everyone received the same success. Would it diminish their value or their foresight? How much of our desire to work is driven by a need to distinguish ourselves as individuals, and to feel our status grow in the eyes of ourselves and others?Who can say what is in the submitter’s heart, when even our own can be so mysterious? But if we take them at face value, it’s also an encouragement to fight yourself back to health. Don’t give up. It’s not too late. Get back in the game and catch up to your peer so you can celebrate alongside.SubmissionsN.B. The submissions in Climate Workers Anonymous are anonymous and unverified.* We’re actually fine. Times are tough, no doubt, but we keep growing from a large base, and have some really exciting milestones ahead of us. In some ways, I wish I saw more fighting spirit from our industry. Some large incumbents aren’t getting the funding to take them to the scale they expected, but somehow they’ve decided to just do nothing instead. Complete silence, at least in public, which also makes the bad buyer & investor sentiment a self-fulfilling prophecy to some extent. Surely it’d be better to at least keep building & learning publicly at a smaller scale like we used to? Meanwhile, we feel vindicated in the strategic choices we made that allow us to keep scaling, but it feels like there’s nobody to celebrate with if the whole industry is hurting.I enjoy these short and sweet episodes. I’d welcome your thoughts. Please like and share this post out if you enjoyed it, and and subscribe if you aren’t already. Below is the info to submit your tales, feelings, thoughts to Climate Workers Anonymous for publication on the podcast and in written form as in this edition.Thanks so much for your support.Sincerely,Ross KenyonCurator of Climate Workers AnonymousThank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe to Substack below, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please do that for me now? Here’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail.Did you enjoy this post from Climate Workers Anonymous? Please share it out so it can find the people who will love it. Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

There’s a Tom Waits line I had thought was from his VH1 Story Tellers album (though I can’t find the exact moment now) where he discusses that a rooster will wait until one is between sung phrases to crow. In my memory, it was about his song “Chocolate Jesus”. The point being—sometimes art coalesces without any intentional will one can detect. Maybe it’s coincidence. Or it’s a vibe people are tuning into. Maybe it’s one of those phone calls in The Sims that would let you know something like, “the owls are not what they seem.” (Super useful, thanks.)This week’s read submissions are like that. They amplify, reflect, and oppose one another. I enjoy seeing accidental harmonies, though the dissonance and randomness of submissions other weeks is amusing in its own way. The reminder of commonality is linked to a reminder of how unique our own time here.To that effect, here’s perhaps my favorite lines ever penned on this gap between individual experience, language, and collective understanding:“Moreover, in this extremity of solitude none could count on any help from his neighbor; each had to bear the brunt of his troubles alone. If, by some chance, one of us tried to unburden himself or to say something about his feelings, the reply he got, whatever it might be, usually wounded him. And then it dawned on him that he and the man with him weren't talking about the same thing. For while he himself spoke from the depths of long days of brooding upon his personal distress, and the image he had tried to impart had been slowly shaped and proved in the fires of passion and regret, this meant nothing to the man to whom he was speaking, and who pictured a conventional emotion, a grief that is traded on the market- place, mass-produced. Whether friendly or hostile, the reply always missed fire, and the attempt to communicate had to be given up. This was true of those at least for whom silence was unbearable, and since the others could not find the truly expressive word, they resigned themselves to using the current coin of language, the commonplaces of plain narrative, of anecdote and of their daily paper. So, in these cases, too, even the sincerest grief had to make do with the set phrases of ordinary conversation. Only on these terms could the prisoners of the plague ensure the sympathy of their door-porter and the interest of their hearers.”— Albert Camus, The PlagueBut you must be the judge of the submissions for yourself.Thanks so much for listening and/or reading. I am so glad to have you here.If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your network and help it find more of those who will love it.Sincerely,Ross Kenyon Curator of Climate Workers Anonymous-------------------------------Thank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe to Substack below, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please do that for me now? Here’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail. Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Welcome to Climate Workers Anonymous, where those who work in climate get to share their anonymous and unverified feelings, experiences, and analysis. Today’s episode has two longer pieces that were submitted.Before I get into those, I wanted to share an additional reflection about the origins of the show’s name. A friend of mine said it and I cottoned onto it right away, and I didn’t quite make the connection that it might also have to do with my admiration for the Catholic Worker Movement and Dorothy Day, in addition to my respect for the various addiction treatment mutual aid organizations that end in “Anonymous”.What I love about both organizations is that they don’t use a hierarchical charitable orientation. The addiction groups are run by an ethos of equality, and that all are addicts, and it is addicts helping one another. For the Catholic Worker, their focus is on works of mercy that recognize the inherent dignity and equal worth of all people, and that any of us might just as easily be in a position that needs this kind of help.This recognition of moral luck renders judgment and hierarchy irrelevant, since it simultaneously encourages us to see ourselves as a fallen sinner as equally as those we “help”, and (if not secular, which many participants in Catholic Worker houses are) to recognize Christ in the “least of these.” The dual nature of humans as both entirely equal and plain, as well as being a locus for divinity to break through everyday reality, is a paradox I like to think a lot about.Ideally, that gives some additional context for why I am attracted to this kind of work.Sincerely,Ross KenyonCurator of Climate Workers Anonymous------------------------------------------------Thank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe above, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please do that for me now? Here’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail. Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Warning: these submissions are anonymous and unverified.We’ve barely even started Climate Workers Anonymous and I’m already receiving such challenging and intriguing pieces of feedback, and so many submissions. Thank you to everyone who has participated to date and taken time to share something real with this project.A friend of mine wrote me right before I recorded this episode and mentioned that he wanted fewer hot takes and more stories, and emotional content beyond anger. It set me to thinking about anger and how I understand its usefulness or lack thereof.I wrote a fair amount about this topic in the Substack posting of this podcast. If you are only seeing this in your podcast app, head over to the Substack for the full experience. You can also read all of the submissions over there rather than only listening to me read them.Also, stay tuned for an episode of my other podcast, Reversing Climate Change, which will soon feature a fuller exploration of the Bhagavad Gita.---------------------------------------------------------------Thank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe on Substack here, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please give Climate Workers Anonymous a full rating and great review for me now? Here’s the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail. Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Here it is: the first show with anonymous submissions to Climate Workers Anonymous. In this episode there are six short thoughts (or four depending upon whether technology has its say), and one longer one.There are big thoughts and analysis. There are feelings of dread and hope. Listen in for yourself.Also, this episode starts with some of my thoughts on some of the ethics and aesthetics of a show like this, as well as a few quotes:" I am human. Nothing human is foreign to me."— Terence" Your energy recycles into every possible relation to everyone else's energy, even Brad's. You've been predator and prey with him, friends, enemies, brother, sister, mother, child."— I Heart Huckabees---------------------------------------------------------------Thank you for listening to and reading Climate Workers Anonymous. Subscribe on Substack here, and be sure to subscribe in whichever podcast app you use. An amazing rating and review on those podcast apps does a world of good. Would you please give Climate Workers Anonymous a full rating and great review for me now? Here’s the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.If you’d like submit your anonymous hopes, fears, or experiences to Climate Workers Anonymous, you can use this Tally survey or email climateworkersanonymous[at]protonmail.com, though I believe the Tally survey is more secure. Do not communicate anything you wouldn’t want a hacker to have access to, including an email address that could be linked to you if you email the account on Protonmail. Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

So much is happening in the world of biochar. It's both a physical product and can also be a more abstract concept called a "carbon removal". How is the industry balancing the divergent business logic of these two different markets, and what challenges and opportunities will it face?In today's episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, producer and guest host Asa Kamer interviews Myles Gray, the program director of the US Bicohar Initiative about their 2023 Global Biochar Market Report.Biochar is responsible for a huge amount of currently delivered durable carbon removals. It's more shovel-ready than other forms of carbon removal, which have much higher CapEx requirements and are betting more on future cost-curves than present deployment. However, some participants in biochar production can face challenges from those concerned about additionality, among other issues.The discussion covers the production scale, market dynamics, economic challenges, and the growing number of biochar producers, particularly in the Global South. Gray also highlights the importance of high-quality standards, the role of innovative business models, and the need for better market development for physical biochar to help scale the industry globally. Listen in to learn more.On This Episode⁠⁠Asa KamerMyles GrayResourcesUS Biochar InitiativeUSBI's 2023 Global Biochar Market ReportConnect with Nori⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s X account⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s other podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s CDR ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠meme X account Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

The XPRIZE remains one of the top stories in carbon removal and one of the largest funding sources for CDR start-ups. The Elon Musk-backed competition will award $50 million to the winning CDR startup in 2025 and send $10 million to three other runner-up teams.Over 1000 teams worldwide have applied since the award was announced in 2021.This month, XPRIZE released the detailed “Getting to Gigaton” report, which provided comprehensive data and analysis of the top 100 teams. A few weeks later, they announced the top 20 finalist teams competing for the grand prize.The report and the selection of the top teams provide a state of play for the industry by showing what methodologies are most ready to grow to a gigaton scale, according to XPRIZE's expert CDR judges.Today's show is with Nikki Batchelor, the Executive Director of XPRIZE Carbon Removal, and Mike Leitch, the Senior Technical Lead, about how they selected the top 20, what they found in this report, and what comes next for the competition.On This EpisodeNikki BatchelorMike Leitch⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠Resources“Getting to Gigaton”⁠ reportConnect with Nori⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s X account⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s other podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s CDR ⁠⁠⁠⁠meme X account Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Biochar is an increasingly global carbon removal pathway. What does it look like to do business in Ghana and India? What does it mean for biochar to be decentralized?Mart de Bruijn is the Co-Founder and Director of Carboneers, a Dutch biochar company working to implement carbon removal solutions in India and Ghana.The conversation covers the challenges of securing enthusiastic participation from local farmers, navigating cultural and regulatory landscapes, and the technical aspects of biochar production. Additionally, the episode sheds light on the crucial role of monitoring, reporting, and verification in ensuring the efficacy of carbon credits, alongside the future expansion plans and potential bottlenecks faced by distributed/decentralized carbon removal systems.This episode is hosted by Radhika Moolgavkar, Nori's VP of Supply and Methodology.On This Episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mart de Bruijn⁠⁠ResourcesCarboneers⁠ Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) recently came out and announced they would be issuing guidance for how some carbon offsets may be used to address Scope 3 emissions (activities beyond direct business operations and energy). This set off a firestorm of protest within and outside of SBTi, as well as some calls of support.It was essentially a tabula rasa one could project one's carbon hopes and fears onto: would this lead to increased financing of sustainability efforts, or result in a race to the bottom of low-quality credits finding a new market? Something in-between, or just too early to tell?In today's episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, host ⁠⁠⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠⁠⁠, Nori's VP of Supply and Methodology, is joined by her business panelists ⁠⁠⁠Susan Su⁠⁠⁠, a venture capitalist at Toba Capital, and ⁠⁠⁠Na'im Merchant⁠⁠⁠, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada, to make sense of this news.They also cover other CDR industry headlines from April, including sustainable aviation fuel, biochar in the global south, and significant subsidy announcements from Denmark and Canada for carbon removal projects.On This Episode⁠⁠⁠⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Susan Su⁠⁠Na'im Merchant⁠Resources"Inside the Controversy That's Divided the Carbon Offsets Market" at Bloomberg"SBTi is committed to robust governance and will not shy away from debate" by Luiz Amaral, CEO, Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)"Carbon Offset Market Faces Chaos as African Mega-Project Collapses" at Bloomberg"Removals are better than some reductions - The case of electrofuels for aviation" by Robert Höglund2023 Global Biochar Market ReportCaptura's fundraising newsMission Zero's fundraising news Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

InPlanet is an enhanced weathering company spreading rock dust on agricultural fields to draw down CO2. In November, it announced a new investment of $4.6 million from a group of investors. Based in Germany, InPlanet collaborates with farmers in Brazil, aiming to remove 1 million tons of CO2 by 2026.As they work to scale their operations, they face a similar challenge all ERW operations are dealing with right now. While the basic science of rock weathering is well understood, accurately measuring CO2 removal in real-world conditions remains a significant hurdle.Ensuring trust in the process will require improved measurement and verification from what exists today- a problem InPlanet is working to solve. On this episode we’re joined by InPlanet’s Head of Carbon Matthew Clarkson who recently released pre-print research evaluating the different methods of measuring CO2 removal from rock weathering and made recommendations for areas of improvement. ERW is technologically ready, has co-benefits, and has already attracted significant investment. It is ready to grow to climate relevant scale- but only if it can be properly measured. On this episode we’ll talk with Matthew about his MRV research, working on the ground with Brazilian farmers, and what hurdles he sees to InPlanet’s goal of megaton removal in the next three years. On This EpisodeRadhika MoolgavkarMathew ClarksonResourcesInPlanetFundraising NewsMatthew’s Pre-print paperEnhanced Weathering AllianceBloomberg article on ERW fundingConnect with NoriNoriNori’s TwitterNori’s other podcast Reversing Climate ChangeNori’s CDR meme twitter account Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Do carbon removal suppliers and registries have a responsibility in choosing their customers, or in enforcing how their carbon removals are used? Is it better that the money go to carbon removal than alternative uses? What matters, and at which magnitudes?In today's episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, host Radhika Moolgavkar, Nori's VP of Supply and Methodology, is joined by her business panelists Susan Su, a venture capitalist at Toba Capital, and Na'im Merchant, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada.A spirited debate ensues about Shell Environmental Product's purchase of biochar credits, SWISS and Lufthansa Group's support of Climeworks, as well as the Copenhagen Airport's carbon removal portfolio purchase from Klimate.co. This type of industry interest in carbon removal, while directionally correct, can trigger debate within the carbon removal community. Many are happy for the support in scaling the new industry. Others worry it is better to maintain CDR's independence. This question is unlikely to be settled any time soon, but tune in and listen to some hot and yet considered takes on the matter.On This Episode⁠⁠⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠⁠⁠Susan SuNa'im MerchantResourcesThe ETH Zürich report on DAC costsRobert Höglund's responseConnect with Nori⁠⁠⁠Nori⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nori’s X account⁠⁠⁠Nori’s other podcast ⁠⁠⁠Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠Nori’s CDR ⁠⁠⁠meme X account Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe

Biotech trees: the new frontierThis week on Carbon Removal Newsroom, we sat down with Maddie Hall, CEO and co-founder of Living Carbon, to discuss how her company enhances the ability of photosynthetic organisms to draw down and store carbon from the atmosphere through the responsible use of biotechnology.Listen in to hear Maddie explain how these trees are designed to absorb more carbon dioxide by leveraging C4 photosynthesis, a more efficient form of photosynthesis.Learn about typical concerns and misconceptions regarding the risks of photosynthetically enhanced trees, and discover why tree resilience is as exciting to Living Carbon as carbon removal.Enjoy this foray into the promising potential of biotech trees!On This Episode⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠⁠Maddie Hall⁠Resources⁠Living Carbon ⁠⁠CRISPER⁠⁠Loblolly Pines ⁠⁠Open AI⁠Connect with Nori⁠Nori⁠⁠Nori’s X account⁠Nori’s other podcast ⁠Reversing Climate Change⁠Nori’s CDR ⁠meme X account Get full access to Climate Workers Anonymous at climateworkersanonymous.com/subscribe