Building a decarbonization army with Shashank Samala of Heirloom
Feb 8, 2024
27:08
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Shashank Samala, Heirloom CEO and co-founder, shares his journey in climate entrepreneurship and the creation of North America's first carbon capture facility. They discuss the significance of carbon removal, Heirloom's natural and low-cost solution using limestone, and plans to make carbon capture affordable and scalable. The podcast also explores the challenges and lessons from constructing the first commercial facility, as well as the company's ambitious goals for the future.
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Quick takeaways
Direct carbon capture technology, like the one developed by Heirloom, is essential to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere and complement emission reduction efforts.
Heirloom's cost-effective approach to carbon capture, utilizing abundant and affordable materials like limestone, has the potential to achieve significant CO2 removal and meet the growing demand for carbon removals.
Deep dives
Direct Carbon Capture Technology and its Importance in Fighting Climate Change
Direct carbon capture technology plays a crucial role in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fighting climate change. The first commercial direct carbon capture facility in the US, operated by Heirloom, utilizes a new method that is fast, cost-effective, and scalable. By removing CO2 from the air, this technology aims to make a significant impact on reducing the overall carbon levels in the atmosphere. The process involves utilizing abundant and inexpensive materials like limestone, which acts as a sponge for CO2. Heirloom enhances the natural properties of limestone, making it even more efficient in capturing and removing CO2 from the air. The technology has gained attention from corporations with net-zero targets, who are investing in carbon removals to offset their emissions.
The Challenge of Carbon Emissions and the Need for Carbon Removal
While reducing carbon emissions is critical to combating climate change, it is not sufficient on its own. To mitigate the worst effects of climate change, it is necessary to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere. The current targets for reducing global carbon emissions have not been met, and carbon removal is essential to fill this gap. Carbon removal involves removing billions of tons of CO2 from the air annually. Direct carbon capture technology, like the one developed by Heirloom, complements emission reduction efforts by capturing and removing CO2 from the atmosphere. This is particularly important for sectors that are challenging to decarbonize. The aim is to achieve a significant impact by removing large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere.
Heirloom's Approach: Innovative and Affordable Carbon Capture
Heirloom takes a unique and cost-effective approach to carbon capture by leveraging abundant and low-cost materials. Traditional methods of carbon capture relied on expensive and hard-to-find materials, making them impractical for large-scale implementation. Heirloom's technology utilizes limestone, which is widely available and affordable, to capture CO2 from the air. By baking the limestone, it transforms into lime, which has a high affinity for CO2. The lime is then exposed to the air, allowing it to absorb CO2 and convert back into limestone. This approach not only makes carbon capture accessible but also contributes to the goal of removing billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere in a scalable and affordable manner.
The Potential and Future of Carbon Capture Industry
The growing demand for carbon removals presents significant opportunities for the carbon capture industry. Businesses with net-zero targets or compliance requirements are increasingly seeking carbon removal solutions. In the voluntary carbon market, there is already a projected shortfall in the supply of carbon removals. As a result, the carbon removal market is expected to scale up rapidly in the coming years, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of tons by the end of the decade. To have a meaningful impact, carbon removal needs to be affordable and accessible. Heirloom aims to make carbon capture cost-effective, with a goal of reaching a billion tons of CO2 removal per year by the 2030s. This industry has the potential to be worth trillions of dollars, particularly as compliance markets and policy initiatives strive to address climate change.
Cutting emissions alone will not be enough. To avoid the worst effects of global climate change, Heirloom CEO and co-founder Shashank Samala believes we’ll also need to pull a lot of carbon out of the atmosphere...
This week on How I Built This Lab, Shashank’s leap into climate entrepreneurship, launching the company that, in just four years, built North America’s first operational carbon capture facility. Plus, Heirloom’s novel approach to carbon removal—one tray of limestone at a time.
This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music by Ramtin Arablouei.
It was edited by John Isabella with research help from Carla Esteves. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch.