Carbon removal technology launched by UK entrepreneurs
UK entrepreneurs and investors Matt Isaacs, Andrew Shebbeare, and Andy Bonsall announced Thursday the launch of “Counteract” to combat against the climate crisis through research, development, and investment in carbon removal technology.
According to a statement from the initiative, “Counteract will help engineer and scientist entrepreneurs with the early-stage investment, commercialization, access to community, and communications support required to develop businesses capable of capturing or storing greenhouse gases at gigaton scale.”
The mitigation of the harshest impacts of climate change will require increasing carbon capture from 0.04 Gigatons in 2020 to 5.6 gt by 2050, notes the International Energy Agency, a growth rate faster than the oil industry peak.
Counteract will support very early-stage concepts and ventures across the spectrum of carbon removal technology such as enhanced weathering, blue and soil carbon, direct air capture, afforestation/reforestation, and new sequestration channels.
“This decade will set the trajectory for humankind’s response to climate change. Time is too short for vital innovations to get stuck in the lab or ideas to languish on paper. We know that solutions proven in theory or at pilot scale now need wide-ranging support and patient capital to break through. We are excited to launch Counteract today to help turn great ideas into scalable solutions that will make a material impact in our lifetimes,” Counteract co-founder Andrew Shebbeare said in a statement.
He added that with the right effort and response, it is very possible to remove enough carbon from the atmosphere to avert enormous suffering. “We believe that for those who are willing to prioritize impact over short term returns, carbon removal also presents an extraordinary commercial opportunity,” Shebbeare highlighted.
With increasing investment interest and philanthropic support for climate solutions, and the carbon marketplace estimated to exceed $10B within the next five years, the market for private investments in this space is destined for significant growth, experts note.
The Counteract initiative will announce a first round of investments and partnerships in the coming months.
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About Counteract
Counteract was founded by experienced entrepreneurs and investors from the world of digital media, finance, technology, and consulting, with early backgrounds in engineering, economics, and material science, and “a shared track of growing organizations from startup to global scale.
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