Global Thermostat —Airminers Log 004
The most valuable thing anybody can do is to break through climate politics and say, “this is going to be great for the economy.”
Dr. Peter Eisenberger is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Global Thermostat LLC [2], a startup based in the Bay Area and New York City that mines carbon from the atmosphere. He was previously a professor of Physics at Princeton University, and in his spare time, he grows redwoods in Northern California. Dr. Eisenberger is an energizing and visionary leader, and we are excited to share our conversation with him.
In recent news: A presentation by CEO Dr. Graciela Chichilnisky to Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) resulted in the passage of the bipartisan Furthering carbon capture, Utilization, Technology, Underground storage, and Reduced Emissions (FUTURE) Act, which encourages investment in air mining technologies. The FUTURE Act was signed into law in February 2018. See links below for more information [3].
Disclaimer: This post is an interview transcription. Please accept any typos or grammatical errors as a result of our process.
What do you think about the goal of returning to 300 parts per million of atmospheric carbon by year 2050?
I argue that nobody has the faintest idea whether or not a warmer planet is better or worse for us and life on this planet. What we do know is that we are changing the carbon dioxide concentration in the air at an unprecedented rate that has the risk of creating catastrophic climate change. The experts think that staying below 450 parts per million is needed to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change. Editors note: See NASA climate center [4] for an explanation of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Thus, the one thing we would like to do is stabilize the carbon dioxide concentration at 450 parts per million, roughly the Paris target. Once we accomplish this, we can then decide with much more knowledge than we have today whether a target of 300 parts per million or some other level is desirable. No matter what we do, we have to pass through 450 parts per million on the way down, since we will clearly overshoot 450 parts per million in the shorter term.
Once we close the carbon cycle and gain control of carbon dioxide concentration, our planet will have a much better future than its past, where the carbon dioxide varied from 200 parts per million to 1600 parts per million, with the former a snow ball Earth, and the latter had massive sea level rise with palm trees in the polar regions.
How do you see the opportunity of carbon capture technology?
Technology will create economic prosperity and remove the cap that puts the developing world at odds with the developed world, and the fossil fuel, natural resource-based economy at odds with the planet. Monetize the carbon dioxide removed from the air by transforming its carbon in a carbon fiber that sequesters it. Combine it with hydrogen obtained from water to make carbon neutral liquid fuel will enable us together with renewable energy to accomplish the three objectives. Editor’s note: see Renewable Energy and Materials Economy paper in Links below [5].
How much carbon dioxide can Global Thermostat remove from the atmosphere in 2017?
We’re first looking for any commercial demonstration that will show the economics of our technology and operation, and are building our plant for those right now. We’re not focusing right now on sequestration, even though we recognize that’s our goal. We’re at a stage where we want to raise the value of our company to the point where we can get capital to do the real challenge, and it won’t kill the company. This is needed because as contrasted with renewable energy, there is no public support for removing CO2 from the air. In general terms, everybody is trying to accommodate the existing system, and the forces are very strong to try to have something that doesn’t interfere with the existing system. Editor’s note: As of February 2018, there is public support for removing carbon dioxide from the air. Congress passed a $35 per tonne tax benefit for Direct Air Capture [3].
What is your scale-up plan?
We are building containerized versions of our technology to get it out into the existing markets of greenhouses, beverages, and food. We can use experience as a vehicle to show the economic viability of the technology. As the carbon dioxide to carbon fiber technology matures a little bit more, we’ll switch our emphasis to that. That’s the big winner in the end, bigger than fuel. It needs a bit more ripening. We need 17 or 18 doublings of Direct Air Capture overall for us to get to the point where we will have avoided the climate crisis. And putting most of the carbon into structural materials, that’s what nature does.
What is your biggest challenge?
The most valuable thing anybody can do is to break through climate politics and say, this is going to be great for the economy. Fossil fuels and natural resources are constrained.
I’m torn, between my investors and company, and my customers, that want to keep this a secret because it gives them a competitive advantage, and my responsibility as a citizen to make the policy leaders understand that there is a solution that can address the climate risk, stimulate the economy, and meet our energy needs, all in an economically viable way.
Not only viable, but stimulating. When I tell the director of climate organizations that I have a solution, he didn’t want to hear it. They won’t keep sending me money if I stop telling them the world is going in the wrong direction.
What would be a big win in the next five years?
A big win would be if we could somehow get the people to decide to be optimistic and take on this challenge and recognize it’s going to have a positive effect. It’s not going to destroy the economy. It’s going to enhance the economy. Regarding the developing world, it’s not going to destroy the environment, it’s going fill their needs and they’re going to become better stewards themselves.
We have a solution, we have the technology, we just need a John F Kennedy to tell us let’s go to the moon. And by the way, he knew less about how he was going to do that, than we know how to solve climate. We’re way ahead of him.
CONTACT GLOBAL THERMOSTAT
Website globalthermostat.com
By Phone 212–678–1148
Mailing Address 335 Riverside Drive New York, NY 10025
Carbon Dioxide Request Form https://globalthermostat.com/need-co2/
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As we chart our course, we enthusiastically welcome partnership with your air mining endeavor. Our contribution is to facilitate collaboration among scientists, technologists, and business communities to implement complementary uses for atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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ABOUT
The first version of airminers.org, launched on 15 Nov 2017, is a view of the activity in carbon sequestration through an economic lens. Our mission is to scale carbon extraction projects by connecting stakeholders for pilot and demonstration projects.
Over the next six months, we will continue to introduce leaders in carbon dioxide through our blog (medium.com/airminers) and website (airminers.org).
You can joining our “Carbon Squad” list here to receive periodic notifications about major changes to airminers.org and special insight into our evolving partnerships.
LINKS
[1] Global Thermostat Overview on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/106444450
[2] http://globalthermostat.com/
[4] https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/
[5] https://siepr.stanford.edu/system/files/REME%20COP22.pdf
