Our idea to remove CO2 with olivine was selected by the jury of the prestigious Virgin Earth Challenge. We are proud to be among the eleven last candidates.
Launched by Sir Richard Branson in February 2007, the Virgin Earth Challenge is a $25 million initiative for the successful commercialisation of ways of taking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and keeping them out with no countervailing impacts.
As of October 2011, the leading organisations in the Earth Challenge are: Biochar Solutions, from the US; Biorecro, from Sweden; Black Carbon, from Denmark; Carbon Engineering, from Canada; Climeworks, from Switzerland; Coaway, from the US; Full Circle Biochar, from the US; Global Thermostat, from the US; Kilimanjaro Energy, from the US, the Savory Institute, from the US and SmartStones from the Netherlands.
The prize
The Virgin Earth Challenge is a contest with an award of 25 million dollars to the best possible project to find a way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, commercially, for profit. Thousands of projects were submitted, and 11 finalists were selected. One of these 11 is the ‘Smartstones’ project, put forward by Professor Schuiling and the Olivine Foundation. Launched in 2007 by Sir Richard Branson and his 5 fellow Judges, a challenge was laid down to the world to come up with ways of demonstrating ‘greenhouse gas removal’ activities that can take more greenhouse gases out of the air than they emit.
Summary of our proposal
Our proposal is composed of fifty-four ideas, partly national, partly international, partly in a stage of implementation, partly no more than the outline of the idea. Each idea is to be worked out into a complete proposal, if sufficient, but still modest funds are available. The proposals have in common that they make use of the phenomenon of enhanced weathering of olivine and similar natural materials for the sustainable sequestration of CO2. Additional benefits include public health, the restoration of marine ecosystems, aid to developing countries and contributions to healthier and more productive soils. It is our contention that together, when applied on a world scale, they will provide the most viable and cost-effective way to reduce the CO2 content of the atmosphere and counteract the acidification of the oceans.
Large volumes of CO2 can be captured by enhanced weathering of olivine or serpentine. This will slow down the rise of CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and ultimately stop it. It also counteracts the ongoing acidification of the oceans, which threatens the survival of corals and other marine organisms, especially those with carbonate skeletons.
The following is a selection of twelve of these proposals, which can be implemented fairly rapidly as they can generate an income independent of future carbon emission credits. The first two proposals concern spreading of olivine on land or at sea. The others are smaller applications, but partly with high publicity value.
These proposals are:
• Spreading of fine-grained olivine over farmland and meadows
• Olivine on beaches and on the bottom of shallow seas
. Optimum locations for olivine mining
• Phytomining nickel from olivine-rich rocks, while catching CO2
• Olivine, diatoms and biodiesel
• Fighting algae with algae?
• The Green Highway
•
Use of olivine grit in roof covering
• The olivine hills
• Fire fighting
• Capturing CO2 from natural emissions
• The CATO filter for cleaner air in office buildings
More about these proposals is found in the pages Application
October 2011, Press Release Virgin Earth Challenge
Launched by Sir Richard Branson in February 2007, the Virgin Earth Challenge is a $25 million initiative for the successful commercialisation of ways of taking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and keeping them out with no countervailing impacts.
As of October 2011, the leading organisations in the Earth Challenge are: Biochar Solutions, from the US; Biorecro, from Sweden; Black Carbon, from Denmark; Carbon Engineering, from Canada; Climeworks, from Switzerland; Coaway, from the US; Full Circle Biochar, from the US; Global Thermostat, from the US; Kilimanjaro Energy, from the US, the Savory Institute, from the US and SmartStones from the Netherlands.
We are collaborating with other groups to help responsibly further the work being done by these organisations,” explained Dr. Alan Knight, VEC Director. “There’s no silver bullet but each option can do its bit. We are looking at how we can make sure the Virgin Earth Challenge is a useful catalyst for all of the good work out there.”
“Beyond the potential of sustainably taking carbon out of the air and keeping it out, each technique has its own potential applications, markets, challenges and opportunities,” he added.
The leading organisations bring expertise and solutions from a wide range of areas which includes air capture, biochar, bio-energy with carbon capture and storage, enhanced weathering on land, and land management. It is hoped that by finding different ways of collaborating with these organisations, the VEC will provide them with new levels of support whilst advancing the entire concept of carbon negativity and recycling, as well as achieving further traction in the climate change debate.
David Addison, the VEC’s Research Executive, said “Currently all of these concepts have varying hurdles but these issues need to be discussed and explored if everybody’s work is to sustainably advance to the full commercial proof of concept stages. It has been a privilege getting to know the leading organisations and VEC are looking forward to working with them further”.
“This is a complex issue and one which cannot be solved by a single group. The Virgin Earth Challenge now plans to collaborate with other organisations to further the work being done by the leading companies”, said Mr. Nick Fox, a spokesperson for Sir Richard Branson. “The world needs better developed climate change mitigation and adaptation tools. We are exploring how we can help this pioneering work move forward in the near term, and want to encourage others to do the same”.