Accelerator Showcase: Greenhouse gas removal
Stanford’s Sustainability Accelerator convened more than 300 researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, and alumni on campus to learn about greenhouse gas removal and how 18 teams are seeking to enable it on a large scale. Explore highlights from the event.
Video credit: Steven Schecter, Stanford Video
Perspectives from entrepreneurs, investors, and Accelerator leaders
Sustainability Accelerator showcases 18 innovations to tackle greenhouse gas removal
Researchers presented their work on greenhouse gas removal, learned from experts about scalability and finance, and connected with potential investors and partners.
Climate tech leaders outline solutions to greenhouse gas removal challenges
Entrepreneurs and investors agreed in a panel discussion that collaboration will be crucial for enabling the greenhouse gas removal industry to scale up “faster than basically any industry on Earth.
Energy and climate technologies as a ‘foundation for human prosperity’
During a panel discussion, venture capitalists urged researchers working to scale greenhouse gas removal technologies to focus on cost and seek common ground with a wide range of prospective partners.
In the media
Greenhouse gas removal project updates
The Sustainability Accelerator at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability has supported 18 projects focused on greenhouse gas removal since 2023. Each project team shared a brief update at the Accelerator Showcase.
Atmospheric removals
Researchers described efforts to remove methane from the atmosphere using free radicals generated by light; convert ambient methane into carbon dioxide or methane using bubbles or sprays of water; design electrochemical devices that capture nitrous oxide from air, water, or soil; and laboratory testing of a new electrochemical approach to pulling carbon dioxide from ambient air with less energy.
Forestry and soil removals
Researchers discussed efforts to understand old-growth forests and their fungal communities as a possible model for forest restoration and enhanced carbon storage; a new low-cost sensor for accurately measuring carbon emissions from agricultural soil; a systematic approach to assessing risk in proposed nature-based climate solutions like reforestation; and engaging with partners in India to scope the potential of agroforestry, particularly in water-limited and energy-limited regions.
Terrestrial removals
Researchers described using worms in agricultural soils to draw down carbon dioxide through enhanced weathering of silicate minerals; creating a stable form of carbon (“biochar”) from unwanted wheat, rice, corn, and sugarcane residue; piloting a trustworthy way to measure captured carbon; and validating a process for transforming rocks and mining waste into materials that remove carbon dioxide from the air relatively quickly.
Oceanic removals
Researchers described a new software tool for assessing carbon dioxide removal technologies; measuring carbon fluxes from a California kelp farm to help assess seaweed cultivation and ocean restoration as a carbon sequestration strategy; partnerships that may foster trusted methods for measuring, reporting, and verifying ocean-based carbon removal; and testing an electrolyzer and fuel cell components for potential use reducing ocean acidity while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Scenes from the showcase
Image credit for all photos: Patrick Beaudouin
Media Contacts
Explore More
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Ambitious Greenhouse Gas Removal projects from Stanford’s Sustainability Accelerator are underway. Here’s a look at four innovative ideas that aim to clean our atmosphere.
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The new process uses heat to transform common minerals into materials that permanently sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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Kabir Peay wants to leverage the relationship between plants and the beneficial fungi that colonize their roots to help ecosystems weather climate change.
