Carbon Removal 101 – Seeking Profitable Climate Change Mitigation

The 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming ended the notion that we could limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C without removing ~two trillion tons of CO2e from the environment. Media and commentators hardly ever note the “e” in this phrase, which denotes an amount of radiative forcing equivalent to each ton of CO2. This shorthand has caused the public to focus on the hopeless goal of removing and storing carbon dioxide.

There is hope. We can reduce the radiative forcing causing the globe to warm by removing carbon from the cycle without ever drawing down or sequestering a single molecule of carbon dioxide. Carbon removal facilities (CRF) using waste biomass feedstocks to co-produce charcoal (aka biochar) and renewable electricity can dramatically reduce radiative forcing while generating attractive returns on investment and ameliorating multiple other environmental problems.

The presentation explains how this co-production can enable the required Moore’s law 18-month doubling of CRF capacity for the foreseeable future.

Thomas Casten
Myno Carbon Corp

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About the Author:

Thomas Casten began searching for strategies for climate change mitigation in 1975, always insisting on approaches that created financial incentives for hosts, operators, and investors. He founded and then served as CEO or chairman of six organizations to deploy win/win changes from business as usual. These companies included Cummins Cogeneration Company, a division of Cummins Engine Co (NYSE), Trigen Energy Corporation (NYSE, 1994-2001), Primary Energy Recycling Company (Toronto Stock Exchange 2005), and Recycled Energy Development, privately held 2006-2016. These firms collectively deployed $2.0 billion in 300 combined heat and power projects, nearly all of which continue to operate with at least twice the efficiency of conventional separate generation of heat and power. These projects annually avoid 6.5 million tons of CO2 emissions, roughly what human actions emit every 90 minutes.

Tom now serves as chair of MYNO Carbon Company, whose mission is to become the world leader in carbon sequestration. Myno is developing the world’s largest carbon capture facility to convert waste biomass from the timber industry into biochar and 24/7 renewable electricity. The biochar will sequester/avoid ~500,000 tons of CO2 e per year.

Platt’s Global Energy awarded Tom its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Mr. Casten served as President of the International District Energy Association and received the Norman R. Taylor Award for distinguished achievement. He was named a “CHP Champion” by the US Combined Heat and Power Association. Tom co-founded and chaired the World Alliance for Distributed Energy (WADE) and is the first member of their Hall of Fame. He has served on the Boards/Advisory Boards of the Climate Institute, Carnegie Melon Electric Industry Center, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Chicago Council on Global Affairs Energy Task Force, and the Ontario Alliance for Clean Technology.

Tom has published numerous articles, testified on several occasions before US Senate and House Energy committees, and has advised Canadian, Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian government officials on power industry governance. He is the author of Turning off the heat and chapters in Energy and American Society, Thirteen Myths, and Sudden and Disruptive Climate Change.

Tom remains active, directing economic analysis for the International Biochar Initiative. His team’s paper, “Profitably Bending the Global Warming Curve,” summarizes recent research to show how the world can drawdown nearly 1 trillion tons of atmospheric CO2, satisfying the Paris Accord goals while improving global standards of living.