280 Earth Plans To Bring Atmospheric CO2 Levels Back To 280 Parts Per Million
280 Earth Plans To Bring Atmospheric CO2 Levels Back To 280 Parts Per Million Carbon Herald
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A New Direct Air Capture Company Aims to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
A new direct air capture company, 280 Earth, was launched this year with the goal of helping to return atmospheric levels of CO2 back to pre-Industrial ones. 280 Earth is a direct air capture technology venture, which originated from Alphabet’s X lab, the moonshot factory. Alphabet is an innovation lab and a separate division within Alphabet, inventing breakthrough technologies with the hope to radically change the world. Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google along with Larry Page, also supports the company.
Commercializing Flexible and Cost-Efficient Direct Air Capture Technology
After its official launch in January 2024, 280 Earth plans to commercialize a flexible and cost-efficient direct air capture technology capable of extracting CO2 from the air at a large scale. This technology aims to overcome the main challenges related to DAC technology, such as energy intensity and high costs.
280 Earth’s approach involves utilizing waste heat from sources like data centers to enhance the efficiency of capturing and removing CO2 from the air. In an interview for Bloomberg, John Pimentel, SVP of Business Development at 280 Earth, explained that the company’s strategy is not to compete with renewable energy that could be supplied to the grid, but rather to utilize new renewables capacity specifically created for 280 Earth’s facilities.
“…when we think about locating mega-scale plants, a million tons and larger, we look for several criteria: first, proximity to where the CO2 can be sequestered; second, the capability to generate new electricity; and third, the waste heat component that helps our system run more efficiently,” commented Mr. Pimentel for Bloomberg.
Advancing Towards Sustainable Development Goals
280 Earth’s efforts align with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations. By developing and implementing direct air capture technology, the company contributes to:
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- SDG 13: Climate Action
The company is currently in the final stages of commissioning its first 500-ton commercial demonstration plant in The Dalles, Oregon. It plans to deliver a 5,000-ton module in 2025 and aims to have a 10 million tons of DAC capacity operating by 2030.
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 13: Climate Action | Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning | – |
| Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning | – | |
| Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries | – | |
| Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning | – | |
| SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy | Target 7.2: Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix | – |
| Target 7.3: Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency | – | |
| Target 7.1: Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services | – | |
| SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure | Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes | – |
| SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production | Target 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources | – |
| Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse | – |
1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
The article discusses a direct air capture company that aims to reduce atmospheric levels of CO2, which is directly related to climate action (SDG 13). The company’s approach also involves using waste heat from sources like data centers, which relates to affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9). Additionally, the company’s goal of commercializing a cost-efficient technology for CO2 extraction aligns with responsible consumption and production (SDG 12).
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
- Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning
- Target 7.2: Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
- Target 7.3: Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
- Target 7.1: Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services
- Target 9.4: Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes
- Target 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
- Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse
Based on the article’s content, the specific targets that can be identified include integrating climate change measures into policies and planning (Target 13.2), improving education and awareness on climate change (Target 13.3), increasing the share of renewable energy (Target 7.2), doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement (Target 7.3), ensuring universal access to affordable energy services (Target 7.1), upgrading infrastructure for sustainability (Target 9.4), achieving sustainable management of natural resources (Target 12.2), and reducing waste generation (Target 12.5).
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
No specific indicators are mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets.
Copyright: Dive into this article, curated with care by SDG Investors Inc. Our advanced AI technology searches through vast amounts of data to spotlight how we are all moving forward with the Sustainable Development Goals. While we own the rights to this content, we invite you to share it to help spread knowledge and spark action on the SDGs.
Fuente: carbonherald.com
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