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Bill Gates-backed startup can store carbon underground for 1,000 years in plant-based bricks

Lisa Stiffler, GeekWire


Graphyte, a startup with backing from Bill Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Ventures, announced Monday that it has developed an affordable, long-term strategy for storing carbon that will keep it out of the atmosphere where it otherwise warms the planet.


The company said it can provide carbon storage for less than $100 per ton — a price point that the Biden administration set as the “earthshot” goal of its climate funding efforts.


Memphis, Tenn.-based Graphyte takes advantage of the ability of trees and plants to naturally capture carbon through photosynthesis. The startup takes unwanted biomass including waste from logging and farming and using a process called “carbon casting” it dries and squeezes the material into blocks. The blocks are stable and won’t decompose, which would release the carbon back into the atmosphere. Graphyte says it can store the bricks in monitored, underground sites.


In addition to providing low-cost carbon removal and storage, the technology can be quickly scaled, according to the company.


“By combining the strength of nature-based approaches with the lasting impact of engineered removal, Graphyte has created a unique solution that accelerates progress toward the billions of tons of carbon removal needed to protect our planet,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures in a statement.


Read the full article in GeekWire.




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