About
Global land and ocean temperature change since 1880. Source: National Climatic Data Center
We know our planet’s surface has warmed by around 0.8°C since the 1880s. The weight of scientific evidence shows this temperature increase has been largely driven by the emission of greenhouse gases produced by human activity.
To avoid catastrophic climate change we need to keep the average world temperature from warming 2°C above pre-industrial levels. But to stop this heat building up in the air, the amount of warming gases in the atmosphere must come down and fast. Amongst all the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) has been responsible for the greatest amount of warming since industrialisation. Unfortunately, CO2 can survive in the atmosphere for over a century, The practical upshot of which is we are breathing air that contains carbon dioxide which has been warming our planet since the beginning of industrialisation. As if this wasn’t bad enough, our planet’s ability to soak up CO2 is falling while the amount we’re producing is increasing. It’s not a good omen for the future. Not only must we stop emitting lots of carbon dioxide, we urgently need to take it out of the atmosphere.
Technology is now being developed to capture carbon dioxide and then store the gas underground, all before it gets into the atmosphere. Known as Carbon Capture and Storage (or CCS), this approach is inherently expensive, while the ability to safely trap gas in underground storage sites is uncertain; if the gas were to escape to the atmosphere the results would be disastrous. Critically, CCS can only be used to capture carbon dioxide at single large emitting sources, such as power stations, and can’t tackle the huge amount of carbon that has already built up in the atmosphere.
Here at Carbonscape we believe we’ve come up with an answer that will help the air breathe a little easier. By bringing together nature and patented technology, we’ve found an economical and efficient way to fix carbon as charcoal, allowing us to safely lock away the problem for thousands of years. The science has been tested independently and the funds secured to build an industrial-scale operation. With a little help from modern technology, we’re helping nature fix the world.
The first sample of charcoal produced by Carbonscape's prototype