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The leading upstream investor has invited start-up companies to explore new methods to suck up greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in order to apply for his acceleration program.
Context: More and more research concludes that it will be nearly impossible for the world to avoid a dangerous rise in global temperature to 2 ° C simply by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, given the concentrations already in the atmosphere and the slow pace with which countries are turning to clean energy. At this point, the UN Panel on Climate Change and other institutions have said that various methods for capturing and storing carbon dioxide would also be needed.
The problem is that scientists and companies have not yet found a way to do it economically at a scale close to that required.
"It is time to invest and passionately seek out a new wave of technological solutions to this problem, including those that present risks, have not yet been proven, and are unlikely to succeed. to work, "Y Combinator said in an announcement on Tuesday. . "
Four areas: Several startups, including Climeworks and Carbon Engineering, have raised funds and built facilities to capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. But Y Combinator highlighted four even older approaches to eliminating greenhouse gases: "We think they deserve more research and attention – something that YC would love to fund.
These include: the use of an electrochemical process to accelerate the natural process of mineral alteration, which extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and oceans; create genetically modified phytoplankton that can use photosynthesis to capture and store carbon dioxide in the ocean; artificially flooding deserts to create oases that can support phytoplankton for the same purpose; and technical enzymes capable of efficiently capturing and storing carbon, and then being eliminated or used to create other products.
Y Combinator said he would consider funding start-up companies or non-profit research in these areas.
Risks rewards: Given the increasing risks of climate change and the limited response of governments, it is essential to support research in areas that are likely to address the dangers.
But it remains to be seen whether such ideas have reached a point where it makes sense to create a for-profit company that could face commercial pressures to deploy solutions before their environmental risks and benefits have been properly explored. Adding a profit motive to a bold proposal – like a flood of deserts – will certainly complicate an already intense public debate about the use of these technologies.
Notably, in 2012, a Californian entrepreneur involved in the carbon dioxide offsetting markets sparked international controversy by dumping iron dust into the Pacific Ocean to promote plankton growth, in violation of the protocols. scientists.
Like a Nature noted article last year, researchers conducted 13 major studies exploring the use of iron fertilization since 1990, but have not yet conclusively shown that it would sequester the carbon dioxide. Some scientists fear, however, that this may have a negative impact on ocean ecosystems by generating toxic algal blooms.
Premature interest: Gernot Wagner, executive director of Harvard's solar geoengineering research program, said it was critical that the private sector help develop commercially viable ways to eliminate greenhouse gases. In particular, project funding allows direct catchment companies in the air to get closer to technology "to make progress in learning and reduce the cost curve," he said in an e-mail. .
"It's where Y Combinator shines," added Wagner. "For more experimental applications such as genetically modified phytoplankton culture, where the focus should be on basic research, the commercial interest today would be premature."
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