Julia Reichelstein is the CEO and Co-founder at Vaulted Deep, a carbon removal company that injects carbon-rich waste slurries deep underground into permanent geologic storage. They've come onto the scene quite fast recently securing just north of a $58 million order from Frontier to sequester over 152,000 tons of carbon between now and 2027, which is Frontier's largest commitment yet. They're one of 20 finalist teams still in the mix for the $100 million Carbon Removal Xprize, and one of 24 semi-finalists of the DOE's Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize. Try saying that three times fast.
They also recently announced an $8 million seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Earthshot, Woven Earth, Collaborative Fund and others. We got to know Julia and her co-founder Omar Abou-Sayed as they set up Vaulted as a spin-out of Omar's waste disposal company, Advantek. Vaulted is a complex set of operations based on a relatively simple construct: Humans have been sucking geologically stored carbon in the form of oil out of the ground for 150 years now. What if we could put it back?
In this episode, we cover:
- Backgrounds of Vaulted's co-founders and the company's mission
- How Vaulted turns organic waste into carbon storage
- Julia's shift from venture capital to carbon removal
- Advantek's history and technological contribution to Vaulted
- Technical details of Vaulted's sequestration wells
- Types of wells used in Vaulted's process
- Community and environmental benefits
- Vaulted's business model and financial sustainability
- The rigorous process for selecting and processing waste for carbon removal
- Comparison of carbon removal strategies and Vaulted's unique approach
- Financial and ecological benefits of Vaulted's methodology
- Hutchinson Kansas facility's role and historical significance
- Vaulted's partnership with Frontier for carbon removal
- Vaulted's participation in the $100 million Carbon Removal Xprize competition
- Potential global health impact of Vaulted's technology
- Open roles and opportunities at Vaulted for furthering its mission
Episode recorded on Jun 17, 2024 (Published on Jul 11, 2024)
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
