The Carbon Capture Bonanza

February 18, 2023

The Carbon Capture Bonanza

A giant energy firm will invest US$26 million to advance knowledge on carbon capture and storage in Australia while a carbon farming startup was able to raise US$73 million to improve soil’s ability to capture carbon.

A VC fund specially dedicated to the carbon removal industry also secures US$42 million in funding as the world’s largest exchange for carbon credits will begin to trade Cercarbono carbon offsets on its platform.

 

Let’s dig in.

The Buzz to Net Zero

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a big buzzword in the world’s quest to reach net zero. Energy giant Chevron believes that it has a crucial role to play in meeting net zero targets “in almost any scenario”.

As proof, Chevron Australia is investing US$26 million to advance carbon capture and storage (CCS) research in the country. 

For the record, the energy firm had allotted a $10 billion dollar investment last year into low-carbon business initiatives. And that includes buying stakes in 3 offshore CCS projects in Australia spanning 7.8 million acres. 

The recent $26 million investment will support another two CCS projects in Western Australia and Victoria. 

Fungi’s Superpower

Still in Australia, another carbon capture firm - Loam Bio - is harnessing the power of microbiology to help tackle climate change while also creating value for agriculture. 

Loam Bio recently raised $73 million in Series B funding to expand its seed coating tech which includes using its CarbonBuilder fungal before the seeds are sown. This process supercharges plants’ ability to store carbon in the soil.

Its technology produces a more stable form of carbon, meaning “there’s lower risk for farmers integrating carbon farming practices.”

For example, by applying CarbonBuilder in barley, farmers managed to double the carbon sequestration per hectare.

Is CDR King of Climate Funds?

Alongside CCS is CDR or the Carbon Dioxide Removal sector which now has its own venture capital fund called Counteract.

The new London-based VC fund is solely dedicated to carbon removal technologies, which have been on the rise lately. 

Counteract has raised $42 million in funding and currently has 12 companies under its current portfolio.

The VC fund will invest in any form or method of CDR, be it nature-based solutions like forestry, regenerative agriculture, direct air capture (DAC), and biomass.

But it has only one main criterion when looking for a CDR company to invest in - the capacity to remove 500 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050. 

Xpansiv Expands, Again 

The leading carbon registry in Latin America, EcoRegistry, will be fully integrated with Xpansiv spot market CBL, allowing for real-time trading of Cercarbono carbon credits starting on February 21. 

 

Cercarbono was created to provide climate solutions through the voluntary certification of carbon credits.

So far, it has issued more than 47 million credits from 138 projects using Xpansiv’s blockchain-based platform, with ISO’s carbon standards for high-integrity crediting. 

Cercarbono carbon credits will trade alongside CBL’s suite of GEO standardized contracts and with other project-specific credits from top carbon registries.

Carbon Fact of the Week

Soil is the most important carbon sink as it stores 80% of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems and fungi are the main regulator of this process.

A study indicated that 50% to 70% of carbon bound in soil is from tree roots and their associated mycorrhizal (or symbiotic) fungi. 

Measurements of plant carbon allocation to these fungi have been estimated to be 5% to 20% of total plant carbon uptake, while fungi sequester about 80% of the carbon they intake.

Source: https://carboncredits.com/