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As of 2024 we have produced over 37 trillion tons of CO², a number which is increasing.
Annual global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by more than 60 percent since 1990 and are now at their highest levels ever. We produce on average 40 gigatonnes (Gt), or 40 billion tons, of CO² per year. Assuming no more growth in the rate of CO² produced per year, which is unlikely, by 2050 we will have produced more than 1 trillion more tons of CO².
Since the Industrial Era we have increased atmospheric CO2 by 50% and produced 1.5 trillion tons, thus by 2050 we will have contributed more than 2.5 trillion tons of CO² to our atmosphere. Meaning nearly 7% of all CO² emissions in history will have come from less than 0.01% of history.
Globally we currently only remove around ~ two GtCO² per year. Seven to nine GtCO² removal will be required each year by 2050 to achieve the climate targets of the Paris Agreement.
Even at this hopeful rate, we will be removing less than 25% of global CO² emissions per year. This realization has dwindled support for CO² removal processes and resulted in CO² removal being seen as a Band-Aid for a much larger wound.
Nonetheless, this concept is beyond necessary and is the only way we can ever reach a true net zero carbon impact on the world.
Current Direct Air Capture systems (DAC), act similar to AC units or Swamp Coolers; in which they are massive stationary units that draw in air using large, industrial fans. Many of these units end up recycling the same air, have massive upfront investments (millions to billions), and have no means to scale globally or have an impact outside their permanent location.
These units can remove 1 ton of CO² for 500-1000 dollars. Achieving sub 100 dollars a ton is viewed as the only practical way for large scale CO² removal to happen. The best units also only remove around 40,000 tons of CO² per year, or only 0.00044% of the goal annual CO² removal by 2050.
Other options such as Biochar do exist as well for cheaper but are extremely impractical for large scale use due to their reliance on land and need for massive volumes of biomass.
All this goes to show, we are in dire need for an innovative solution to revolutionize the CO² removal industry.
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