Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into solutions tackling climate change. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups building enhanced weathering solutions.
Out of 163, the Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Startups building Enhanced Weathering Solutions
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 2 093 000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 163 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 158 enhanced weathering solutions, get in touch.
Project Vesta develops Coastal Carbon Capture Solutions
Founding Year: 2019
Location: San Francisco, US
Partner for: Ocean Carbon Capture
US-based Project Vesta provides negative emission technology for coastal carbon capture. Its ocean carbon capture process accelerates the natural chemical weathering of olivine minerals by spreading a large amount of olivine-containing rocks in and around coastlines. The mineral, once dissolved in seawater, increases the rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption and improves the inorganic carbon cycle. Even though olivine is found naturally in certain coastal regions, its small scale does not provide much benefit towards reducing atmospheric carbon. To improve the technology that captures CO2 more effectively, Climitigation set up Project Vesta. Such large-scale solutions utilize crushed minerals to accelerate and improve natural weathering processes.
Heirloom creates Large-Scale Direct Air Capture (DAC) Solutions
Founding Year: 2020
Location: San Francisco, US
Partner for: Carbon Capture
US-based startup Heirloom develops a technology to enhance the process of carbon reduction in the atmosphere. Its solution utilizes carbon mineralization, a process that uses minerals to absorb CO2 from the air, in a very short time frame, when compared with other direct air capture methods. Moreover, the startup’s solution utilizes widely available, low-cost minerals to produce oxides that naturally bind to CO2 at ambient conditions. These are passively exposed to the air rather than relying on energy-intensive and high-cost air contactors. Currently, the challenges in carbon removal from the atmosphere lie in the scalability, cost, and impact of the technology. These challenges are solved with Heirloom’s mineral carbonization technology, in turn, enabling more industries to create a positive impact on climate change.
The Future Forest Company accelerates Rock Weathering
Founding Year: 2020
Location: Mull, Scotland
Partner for: Infrastructure-free Carbon Capture
The Future Forest Company is a UK-based startup that uses rock crushing to accelerate rock weathering. The startup achieves this by increasing the surface area of basalt rocks by breaking them apart into particles with very small diameters. This significantly reduces the time required for the rock to dissolve into the environment and subsequently lock carbon. Moreover, the dissolution of basalt releases magnesium and calcium cations that react with bicarbonate ions in rainwater to form carbonate minerals, which are highly stable. For example, this method of accelerated weathering allows the agricultural industry to implement large-scale carbon reductions. Additionally, this benefits farms as they do not host any related infrastructure on their land. This improves on other direct air capture solutions that actively draw carbon from the atmosphere.
44.01 offers Carbon Mineralization as a Service
Founding Year: 2020
Location: London, UK
Partner for: CO2 Mineralization
UK-based startup 44.01 provides carbon mineralization as a service using direct air capture and other processes. The startup reduces atmospheric CO2 using natural weathering to turn CO2 into solid rock. This technology accelerates the mineralization process and uses natural carbon sinks, such as peridotite rocks, to eliminate CO2. Many carbon-related climate solutions temporarily solve the problem of carbon in the atmosphere by capturing and storing carbon. However, this carbon is not permanently stored and is eventually released back into the environment through the products and services that are created using the stored carbon. 44.01, on the other hand, is partnering with other green technology companies to permanently store CO2 and reduce atmospheric carbon through mineralization.
Carbon Collect provides Passive Carbon Capture Columns
Founding Year: 2017
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Partner for: Passive Direct Air Capture
Carbon Collect is an Irish startup that specializes in the development of passive large-scale carbon capture solutions. The startup’s MechanicalTrees technology requires no energy to capture CO2 from the atmosphere since it functions passively using the wind, thereby reducing the cost of carbon capture. MechanicalTrees is a column that is ten meters tall when extended to capture CO2 from the air and contains sorbent tiles that constantly expand and retract. The startup’s solution solves some of the challenges associated with reversing climate change, including lowering operational costs and implementing scalable solutions. Carbon Collects also partners with large corporations and governments to create large-scale MechanicalTree farms that contain up to 120 000 units to substantially reduce carbon from the atmosphere.
Discover more Startups
Startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on large-scale carbon capture and permanent storage as well as energy-efficient, cost-effective carbon capture solutions. While all of these technologies play a major role in tackling climate change, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more green technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download one of our free Industry Innovation Reports to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
