From air pollution to degrading soil nutrients to depleting groundwater levels, North India is facing ecological disasters on multiple fronts. This is where India needs to make the shift to regenerative farming sooner than later.

Stubble Burning: How regenerative farming, biochar and generous financing can solve many problems in one go

From a paint that cools buildings to a new carbon capture process used by (among others) the rock band Coldplay, here's the latest in climate innovation.

Five Tech Innovations That Could Help Save the Planet

RIT researcher Thomas Trabold co-authors groundbreaking study on biochar’s pivotal role in global emissions reductions in the fight against climate change.

RIT professor co-authors research on biochar accelerating pathway to global decarbonization

Pull a burning log out of a campfire and it will send a smoky plume of carbon and ash into the air. Place that log in a 1,500-degree fan-blown kiln and the carbon and ash will lock down inside the coal.

East Bay Regional Park Tackles Fire-Fuel Reduction With 'Biochar' Project

East Bay Regional Park District tackles fire-fuel reduction with ‘biochar’ project

Wood heated to a high temperature in a low-oxygen setting creates a charcoal that holds its carbon. It also improves soil health and filters water. Will it become widespread?

Northland researchers look to biochar as possible climate solution

Municipal sludge waste could be transformed into useful biochar through pyrolysis process. In this study, municipal sludge-derived biochar (SBC) was successfully synthesized via the one-pot pyrolysis method, and the yield of sludge biochar gradually ...

Physicochemical and adsorptive properties of biochar derived from municipal sludge: sulfamethoxazole adsorption and underlying mechanism

But now, Bird watched without a jersey from her courtside seat at Barclays Center as Stewart led her new team to its first Finals win since 1999 and, perhaps, one step closer to the franchise's ...

We've taken the Liberty to say the time is now for Breanna Stewart

The Bloomberg Cities Ideas Exchange builds on the success of programs like an environmental initiative in Lincoln that turns wood waste into a charcoal-like material called biochar that reduces ...

Bloomberg formalizes grant fund that helped Lincoln build biochar facility

“Look at the playing field. What else is out there that’s commercially viable right now?” said Kathleen Draper, board chair at the International Biochar Initiative. “The reality is: It’s a shovel-ready technology.” As a result ...

Biochar is a ‘shovel-ready’ climate tech darling, but can it scale up?

Get the most recent info and news about Biochar Now on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

Biochar Now, LLC engages in the production of biochar. The Company offers solutions in the areas of crop production, composting, oil and gas, mine reclamation, and odor control. Biochar Now serves customers worldwide.

Biochar Now

GHG-removal is a $10trln annual market opportunity that is yet to be tapped by new investors, innovators and entrepreneurs. It would be fair to admit that there have been some positive signals in the GHG-emissions problem resolution recently. European climate law increased the EU-goal to cut emission by 55% by 2030 (compared to 2005) instead of former 40%. US Inflation Reduction Act aims to raise almost $800bln towards things like energy security and climate change programs over the next ten years. There’s an increasing global adoption of the Carbon Boarder Adjustment Mechanism that would touch almost all the countries that want to trade with the US, EU, Canada, or Japan. The list goes on… But UN says that despite all the changes, humanity is the set targets, even those that governments set themselves (like Nationally Determined Contributions). still missing Even if we were on track to meet the targets set, it would still to prevent the environmental catastrophe. be not enough Unfortunately, it seems, the situation is even worse. The point is that all the targets focus on preventing the new emissions, that are being produced each year, that, after showing a by 6,4% (or 2,5bln tons) in 2020 (the largest-ever historical decline as the pandemic halted global economic activity) – stroke a new record this year (reaching (GT)). slight decrease 58 gigatons But what about the GHG-emissions, that have already accumulated in the atmosphere? That are not dissipating on their own due to the exceeded natural abilities of Earth of doing it itself? According to (2022.11.20) - the atmospheric CO2 concentration increased 2.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2021 and is projected to increase by around 2.5ppm in 2022, resulting in global atmospheric concentrations of 417.2 ppm on average for the year. This represents an increase in atmospheric CO2 of around 51%, relative to pre-industrial levels. World Economic Forum But what exactly are the preindustrial levels? (2022.06.23) states that before the Industrial Revolution started in the mid-1700s, atmospheric carbon dioxide was 280 ppm or less. That means that currently there's an 137.2 ppm excess. Climate.gov So, how does this figure compare to the emissions we produce every year? To calculate this we'll need to use the conversion formula from the - each part per million of CO2 in the atmosphere represents approximately 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon, or 7.82 gigatonnes of CO2. Carbon Dioxide Information Analyses Center That means that the overall excessive amount of the CO2 accumulated to this moment is 137.2 * 7.82 = 1 072,904 gigatons of CO2 (so, about 20 times more, that we've produced only this year). What's more, according to – In 2016 CO2 was accountable only for 74,4% of total GHG-emissions worldwide (the others being: methane – 17.3%; nitrous oxide – 6.2%; and other emissions (F-gases – HFCs, CFCs, SF6) – 2.1%). Using this proportion we could add 34,4% on top of the CO2-emissions to approximately calculate the overall amount of accumulated GHG-emissions – 1 442 gigatons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e). Our World in Data To understand even further how big the problem is, let's use the most common tool to do it - money. The price of emissions There are different ways to calculate the carbon price, but most usually the price, used in the emissions trading systems is used. The price of emissions allowances (EUA) traded on the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) was 85.22 euros per metric ton of carbon dioxide on . The highest carbon price during 2022 was on August 19, at 98.01 euros per metric ton. A study published by (2022.09.01) found that the USA's value of one tonne of carbon dioxide should be $185 – almost four times the current cost of $51. December 1, 2022 Nature So, if we use these figures to calculate how much we need to pay to remove all that excessive GHG-emissions out of the air we'll get $73,55 - $266,78 trillion dollars needed to do this (again, so that you can imagine how big these figures are, compare it to the global GDP – in 2022 it is predicted to be . $103.86trln So, it seems to be impossible to remove all those GHG-emissions in an instant, but we still understand that we have to do it till 2030, or at least 2050 (to prevent the catastrophe). If we choose the latter, then the average annual price (market volume) would be from $2,63 to $9,53 trillion dollars. What about the future? (2018.08.27) predicts that by 2050 CO2 levels will reach 550ppm in a business as usual scenario and (2022.06.23) estimates that by 2100 we could reach even 800ppm levels. Carbonbrief.org Climate.gov If current economic growth, demography, and emissions intensity trends continue, the level of annual emissions will continue to rise, reaching . 62 GT by 2030 Why bother? Global GDP could drop by 18% over the next 30 years in the case of non-action on climate change, . 200 of the largest global companies that they will collectively incur $1T in climate change-related costs if they do not take measures to address it at present. according to Swiss Re estimate But that's only if we don't do anything, and we are doing a lot of things, at least something, right? Like renewable energy, forcing the main pollutants to abate their emissions, at least partially, with taxes and limited carbon allowances, increasing the regulatory scrutiny with reporting and etc?.. Well, yes, of course. But those things have their limits. For instance, the share of U.S. power generation from renewables is going to increase only from . Plus, there are “hard-to-abate” industries that account for more than of global emissions. 21% in 2021 to 44% in 2050 30% So, that leaves approximately half of the newly produced emissions by 2050 to be removed, meaning that the emissions removal market is not going to drop at least by 2050. How much market is already taken? Almost none. , that, probably, we capture less than 0,1% of GHG-emissions we produce. That leaves a great potential for creative minds, great engineers to focus their attention on tackling these challenges - and that means, innovations, investments and business! Experts say What are the main GHG-removal technologies? names the following GHG-removal methods: World Resources Institute natural strategies like tree restoration and agricultural soil management; high-tech strategies like direct air capture and enhanced mineralization; hybrid strategies like enhanced root crops, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and ocean-based carbon removal expands it like this: American University planting massive new forests (afforestation/reforestation) using no-till agriculture and other practices to increase the amount of carbon stored in soils (soil carbon sequestration) creating charcoal and burying it or plowing it into fields (biochar) capturing and sequestering carbon from biofuels and bioenergy plants (bioenergy with CCS or BECCS) spreading crushed rocks over land to absorb carbon dioxide from the air or exposing them to carbon dioxide-rich fluids (enhanced mineralization) building machines that would suck carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere and bury it (direct air capture)oceans-based methods, including: spreading alkaline materials, such as lime, over the ocean (ocean alkalinization) fertilizing selected areas of the ocean by spreading nutrients, such as iron, over the surface (ocean fertilization), fertilizing selected areas of the ocean by pumping nutrient-rich waters from the depths to the surface (artificial upwelling), accelerating the transport of carbon to the ocean depths by pumping surface waters downward (artificial downwelling) And where do corporations invest? First, it’s carbon utilization. When carbon is not only removed, but also utilized to some useful purpose – like fuels construction or other made from emissions (i.e. LanzaTech (nearly 2bln valuation) and Solidia (nearly 1bln valuation), Pure Earth (Nasdaq acquired a majority stake. Besides utilization does the direct capture and storage, sells the CO2 removal certificates), Twelve ($200mln of investment)). And then we have a lot of corporations investing in carbon removal in this or that way. In April 2022 Stripe launched a . It’s been funded as well by Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, McKinsey, and tens of thousands of businesses using Stripe Climate. The company has committed to buy an initial $925M of permanent carbon removal by 2030. It has now contracted to buy non "conventional" carbon removal from 14 different start-ups. It’s crucial to notice that it applies an intentionally non-efficient approach to buying carbon removal. On average, Stripe paid a “couple hundred dollars a ton” to remove carbon dioxide, but its purchases ranged from $75 to $2,052 a ton. That’s because they want to help startups to invent new ways with the high scaling potential in the future! Frontier Climate At COP26 there’s was a launched. Alphabet, Microsoft, and Salesforce pledged $500 million to new climate tech that’s supposed to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to keep it from heating up the planet (like the Frontier – through advance purchase commitments by 2030). It aims to tackle hard-to-abate emissions, to decarbonize the heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors responsible for 30% of global emissions. More than 50 companies have joined, including: Amazon, Apple, Airbus, BCG, Bank of America, Delta, Deloitte, Ford, FedEx, Nokia, SAP, Scania, DHL, EY, PWC, Volvo, Western Digital, Bain & Company, Boeing, Schneider Electric and Maersk. First Movers Coalition In addition, Microsoft launched a (that invests in carbon reduction and removal tech). So far, they’ve invested in (planting trees); - sustainable agriculture); Moreover, Microsoft has purchased of metric tons of carbon offsets from 15 organizations in FY 2021, and is going to increase the volume by 5mln gradually by 2030. $1B Climate Innovation Fund NCX ReGrow 1.3 millions Amazon has its own $2Bln . Has made 20 investments so far, including (planting trees) and - controlled environment agriculture. Additionally, Amazon has a $100M Right Now Climate Fund (that, among others, invests in restoring forests). Climate Pledge Fund Pachama Hippo Harvest Apple has a $200M fund (with Goldman Sachs and Conservation International) to invest in planting forests and other carbon removal initiatives. Climate tech funding in 2022 more than a quarter of every venture dollar invested in 2022 with US$15-20 billion range per quarter. In 2021, start-ups targeting sectors that are responsible for 85% of emissions attracted just 39% of investment. In 2022, start-ups in those sectors attracted 52% of climate tech investment. represented But, of course, that’s only the beginning. Investments would have to rise to tens or even hundreds of billions, we’ll see many gigacorns (startups that have a $1bln valuation but at the same time remove 1 gigaton of GHG), and, who knows, maybe even a $1trln company – not an unfair price for saving the world, right? :)

GHG-Removal Could Be the Biggest Market of the 21st Century

La eliminación de GEI podría ser el mercado más grande del siglo XXI

L'élimination des GES pourrait être le plus grand marché du 21e siècle

जीएचजी-रिमूवल 21वीं सदी का सबसे बड़ा बाजार हो सकता है

GHG 除去は 21 世紀最大の市場になる可能性がある

A remoção de GEE pode ser o maior mercado do século XXI

Loại bỏ GHG có thể là thị trường lớn nhất của thế kỷ 21

温室气体排放可能成为 21 世纪最大的市场

Meet the Winners of Startups in North and Central America

Many things that we do on this planet eventually generate the greenhouse gases that constitute the growing carbon footprint that can no longer be ignored. As governments are actively seeking ways to introduce effective measures against the threatening pace of climate change, the investors’ interest in the cleantech sector increases. The rise of green tech has inspired many entrepreneurs and scientists to step forward with innovative solutions that have the potential of reversing the damage that humanity has made to Planet Earth. As the goal of reaching “Net Zero” by 2050 still remains miraculous, technology seems to be our main hope for positive change. What Can Be Done to Reduce Carbon Footprint? ✅ Develop green air travel technologies Aviation accounts for up to 2-3% of carbon dioxide emissions. It’s much less than the amount coming from electricity or agriculture, yet these figures are much more significant than they may seem: thanks to the pandemic, the overall amount of emissions in 2020 dropped by a few hundred million tons. As since then we’ve got back to full-scale traveling, it’s pointless to hope for a reduction in air travel in the near future – so the only way to deal with it is to make it more sustainable. It’s highly unlikely that we will have access to zero-emissions air travel in the near future, but the foundation for developing such options has been set. In the future, we are likely to see more aviation companies switching to sustainable biofuel, an increasingly growing number of eclectic jets, and possibly hydrogen-powered planes. Startups to watch: Sylphaero France Country: 2020 Founding year: The company focuses on facilitating the adoption of alternative engines in aviation by developing electric batteries, propulsion systems, solar cells, and the actual engines that efficiently convert electricity into heat. What they do: Tessomo Technologies Ireland Country: 2018 Founding year: While biofuel may seem like a great alternative to traditional fossil fuels, its production may easily result in an uncompensated amount of CO2 – thus completely neutralizing the positive effect of its adoption. To fight this problem, Tessomo Technologies have introduced a solution for transforming recycled waste into liquid fuel. What they do: ZeroAvia : Britain / USA Country 2017 Founding year: This startup has already raised $140 for developing alternative flying technologies based on renewable hydrogen-powered aviation. Although its first test flights will reportedly be hybrid, the company’s vision is to make completely emission-free flights possible in the foreseeable future. What they do: ✅ Electric transport development It’s probably needless to say that cars and other vehicles moving off fossil fuel energy cause enormous damage to our climate. Although many car manufacturers have already introduced various electric alternatives to traditional means of transport, a large number of issues in this field still remain unsolvable. How do we make electric cars more affordable for the population? How long will it take to build the outstanding charging infrastructure in every location? Finally, how do we make the electric vehicle manufacturing process less harmful? These tech ventures might offer us some answers. Startups to watch: Hylico France Country: 2021 Founding year: The company offers commercial carbon-negative electric vehicles. Hylico trucks are due to be released in 2023 with a promise to run on hydrogen produced via biomass thermolysis – a process of transforming waste from the wood industry into organic charcoal fertilizer. What they do: Nowos Netherlands Country: 2019 Founding year: Nowos helps cut the need for battery manufacturing by bringing new energy to the existing batteries. The startup specializes in repairing, refurbishing, and recycling lithium batteries in order to make the electric vehicle industry more sustainable. What they do: VinFast Vietnam Country: 2017 Founding year: The company focuses on manufacturing all-electric sport-utility vehicles with a special subscription scheme for battery maintenance. The consumers signing up for the subscription are eligible for free battery maintenance and replacement as its capacity drops over time. What they do: ✅ Reduce animal product consumption Meat production is by far one of the most environmentally harmful industries. It’s one of the major causes of deforestation, loss of biodiversity, excessive water usage – and greenhouse gas emissions. Animals – particularly cows and sheep – create enormous amounts of methane as they digest food and produce manure. Overall, the meat and dairy industry is responsible for about 14,5% of global greenhouse emissions. While simply lowering the consumption of meat is already a significant step towards more sustainable agricultural practices, what would make a real difference at this point is a synergy of different technologies offering animal product alternatives. Startups to watch: Air Protein USA Country: 2019 Founding year: This startup strives to become a carbon-negative company by transforming captured CO2 into alternative meat. The technology is based on the findings made by NASA scientists, who discovered that a certain type of microbes can convert carbon dioxide combined with water and energy into highly nutritious protein. What they do: vly Germany Country: 2019 Founding year: As it’s become clear that soy products can be j , green tech enthusiasts have been on the lookout for better alternatives – and this German startup seems to have found one. Vly produces vegan milk made from yellow spit peas – a great source of natural protein with a much lower carbon footprint. What they do: ust as harmful to the environment as meat Jiminy’s USA Country: : 2016 Founding year A large percentage of our meat consumption comes from pet food manufacturing. This company has come up with a creative approach to the problem by replacing the meat protein in dog food with insect protein – or, specifically, crickets. Jiminy’s produces healthy and sustainable nutrition for pets that seems to be appreciated by both the owners and their pets. What they do: ✅ Capture CO2 from the atmosphere One of the ways to reverse greenhouse emissions is to capture carbon dioxide from the air. A huge problem with the current technologies for direct CO2 capturing is, however, that such machines use an unjustifiable amount of global energy supplies. That’s why this topic has been one of the hottest challenges for climate tech ventures – a sustainable and scalable way to collect CO2 is yet to be discovered. Consequently, the other focus for climate tech startups is the actual utilization of the captured gas. Turns out there are many ways to put CO2 into sustainable production, with more and more creative approaches coming up as the technology evolves. Startups to watch: Carbon Infinity United Kingdom Country: 2019 Founding year: This startup is determined to introduce a modular technology that would make capturing CO2 easier and more cost-effective, making carbon removal a largely scalable technology. The vision of the company is to de-fossilize the economy by extracting and storing large amounts of greenhouse gas for industrial use. What they do: SeeO2 : Canada Country 2019 Founding year: This startup has focused its solutions on converting the captured carbon dioxide into sustainable fuels and chemicals for industrial use. SeeO2 is currently developing reversible solid oxide fuel cells that would make it possible to convert water into hydrogen and carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide. What they do: Aether Diamonds USA Country: 2019 Founding year: The company claims to have produced the world’s first diamonds made from air. Aether Diamonds offers sustainable jewelry featuring precious stones that were created in the lab setting using captured CO2. While their mined analogs cause irreparable damage to our planet because of the harmful extraction process, the lab-manufactured diamonds contribute to reducing global warming without compromising their beauty. What they do: ✅ Maximise the potential of alternative energy resources It’s not all about wind turbines and solar energy panels – there’s much more to alternative energy resources that are yet to be discovered and scaled. Various ways of extracting clean fuels and sustainable electricity from repurposed waste processed CO2, and other non-traditional sources provide an array of different niches for startups to take over. While many of the existing technologies for alternative energy extraction are still relatively hard to scale, the growing number of such solutions gives hope for the massive adoption of these technologies in the future. Startups to watch: EH Group Switzerland Country: 2017 Founding year: EH Group explores the green fuel cell technology that transforms the chemical energy of hydrogen cells into sustainable electricity. The company focuses on making compact solutions suitable for mobile and automotive applications that are sensitive to the weight and volume of the devices’ details. What they do: Carbo Culture Finland Country: 2016 Founding year: Carbo Culture has introduced a technology for converting waste biomass into carbon-negative charcoal. The startup prevents the release of CO2 from decomposing plants into the atmosphere by transforming them into biochar and generating usable heat. What they do: Liquid Wind Sweden Country: 2017 Founding year: The company produces a special type of alternative fuel – eMethanol, a liquid fuel made from carbon dioxide and renewable electricity. The company is currently developing its first commercial-scale eMethanol facility in Sweden. What they do: ✅ Make green technologies more accessible to consumers Many eco-friendly technologies are targeting the problems caused by various industrial processes. Meanwhile, we shouldn’t underestimate the input of each household into climate change. It isn’t fair, however, to expect people to invest in solutions that cost far more than their traditional alternatives. Consumer-friendly technologies for utilizing natural clean energy resources, home-based recycling activities and other things that make our everyday life greener are on the rise – and so are their cost-effective variations. Startups to watch: Elfrosun Technologies India Country: 2018 Founding year: Elfrosun Technologies is making solar panels for households more affordable for the population – which especially makes sense considering that the company is heavily focused on its home market, India. Elfrosun raises awareness about the benefits of solar power to gain more recognition and generate interest in the technology. What they do: Aeroshield USA Country: 2019 Founding year: How often do we think about the role of windows in climate change? Yet apparently the way we regulate the temperature in our homes can be transformed by the right technology that will help us preserve the thermal comfort in our homes. This startup develops affordable energy-efficient windows for every household. What they do: Sensorflow Singapore Country: 2016 Founding year: Is it possible to make our leisure travels more environmentally friendly? Yes – and Sensorflow does its best to help. The company provides smart solutions for hotel management and maintenance, saving up to 30% of each facility’s energy costs while reducing the carbon footprint of each hotel room and its inhabitants. What they do: Raising awareness and providing simple instruments for calculating the carbon footprint It’s hard to be conscious about your carbon footprint when you don’t have a clear idea of how exactly your actions contribute to generating CO2 – and this equally applies to businesses and individuals. Software solutions and apps that help us track our CO2 input, just as reliable sources of information that help us find out how to be more environmentally conscious, play an important role in making our future a better place. Startups to watch: Sync Energy AI USA Country: 2016 Founding year: The startup offers an AI-based predictive software platform for insurance and energy professionals. Sync Energy provides a powerful tool for recreating complex simulations for planning electrical utilities in various conditions, including natural disasters. What they do: Evocco Ireland Country: 2017 Founding year: Evocco is a smart app for helping consumers make the most our of their environmentally-friendly grocery shopping. The tool helps you find the most nutritious food for your everyday cooking with the lowest potential carbon footprint. What they do: Plan A Germany Country: 2019 Founding year: Plan A is one of the many startups that strive to facilitate carbon accounting for businesses. Yet it’s one of the few ones that have created a genuinely convenient platform for measuring, monitoring, and reducing carbon emissions along with providing quality ESG reporting. What they do: Also published . here

BIOCHAR NOW

biocharnow.com

11-50 employees

Since 2011

COMPANY RANKING

BIOCHAR NOW

EVERGREEN INDEX #2390

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

Biochar Now WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!

BIOCHAR NOW

biocharnow.com

11-50 employees

Since 2011

COMPANY RANKING

BIOCHAR NOW

EVERGREEN INDEX #2390

RELATED COMPANIESRANK

STORIES ABOUT BIOCHAR NOW

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

Biochar Now WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!