Joe Rigodanzo

Partnerships @ Climeworks | Carbon removal

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

Climeworks is a DAC provider and a marketplace for buying other forms of carbon removal. That's new!

In this article I cover:
- Why this pivot is happening in 2024
- The promise (and perils) of starting new business lines
- Climeworks' new competitors

https://t.co/69HhMUXkfX

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

Amped to see 4 wells in California approved for 38 million tons of CO2 storage!

Kern County, which started the Oil Revolution in California, will be at the center of putting emissions back underground. The subterranean workforce in Kern County will have a big role to play

Great start to 2025

https://t.co/1vJlDSKWol

[Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh @AndreasenJack]

I would suggest checking the website before asking/insinuating if a company is scamming you

@Climeworks is up front about deliveries, DAC, broadly, is supply constrained and purchases are for future deliveries

https://t.co/6sAnyQmsZy

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@RobertHoglund @cdr_fyi Microsoft likely thinks that CDR prices are going to rise!

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

You're right, they're not 1:1 comparable. I kept a broad definition of 'high quality offsets' since I think that's how the market ultimately views "leadership", knowing that Biochar may not hold up in the long term

Even if you strip out Biochar and NBS, Microsoft is still the biggest player by a quite a lot

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

The biggest buyer in carbon removal just keeps on buying

What does Microsoft know that the rest of the market doesn't?

https://t.co/44qqMHnLBl

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@ReissEarth @geoengineering1 There's definitely excess demand. But biochar supply is way higher than, say DAC or mCDR

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@ReissEarth @geoengineering1 Perhaps. But doesn't seem to be what Microsoft is expecting! And prices are up, especially where Microsoft has been very active (Biochar)

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

Carbon Capture, Inc. should pivot to become the leading Direct Air Capture contract manufacturer

DAC needs a TSCM-type player if it's going to grow fast. Carbon Capture, Inc. is best positioned to make this happen

https://t.co/ghRjAcrD7c

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@jphillips8806 Agree, my only point is there's a clear cap on how big it can get. 100M - 500M tons maybe

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

The reason no one cares is because Biochar is destined to stay small

https://t.co/nxUAFVH1EY

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@bc3mc2 Read the linked piece. There's not enough land / soil / agricultural byproducts to allow biochar to be 'renewable' enough to scale

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@BillClintoneOt1 For sure, that will definitely work! I think Biochar is going to be a huge success, to be clear

https://t.co/jNdJbLGG1h

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

DAC from @280earth could provide cooling services for nearby data centers. I like the idea, but imagine real-world implementation is hard

h/t @emilypont

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@jasonaramburu @PeterOlivier @geoengineering1 @katie_brigham @cdr_fyi Agree

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

We might not disagree. I think Biochar will be one of the biggest (or biggest) forms of CDR for 10-20 years. And I'm open to the idea that creative business models will make it scale.

Question for you, just to understand your mental model: what is the cap for how much CO2 Biochar will remove each year? I'd put it at ~500M (I wrote why in the linked article)

Btw really admire what you're working on

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@PeterOlivier @geoengineering1 Nice, very similar mental model

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@jasonaramburu @PeterOlivier @geoengineering1 @katie_brigham True! Though right now the going price of Biochar is going up, last I saw @cdr_fyi it was $190

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@jasonaramburu @PeterOlivier @geoengineering1 Agree!

[Joe Rigodanzo @joerigodanzo]

@PeterOlivier @geoengineering1 I think we actually agree on this. Biochar will be the the biggest (or one of the biggest) forms of CDR for a while - maybe 10-20 years? But there's a clear cap on how big it can actually become. If it ever removes 100M tons of CO2 in a year I'd be shocked

[Robert Höglund @RobertHoglund]

Carbon intensity matters, not just absolute emissions.

Microsoft is one of the world's most ambitious companies regarding climate action. They have started to require suppliers to source 100% clean energy, they do A LOT on clean energy for themselves, including signing the world's largest renewable power purchase agreement, investing in fusion and nuclear, and they are by far the biggest buyer of durable carbon removal.

Yet their emissions increase. However, one needs to look at the carbon intensity of growing companies, not just absolute emissions. Microsoft’s revenue jumped from $143 billion in 2020 to $211 billion in 2023—a 47% growth—while their emissions grew at a lower rate (up 29% compared to 2020), meaning their carbon intensity shrank.

Think of it like acquisitions: buying another company doesn’t increase carbon in the atmosphere. Similarly, when you grow your market share, it’s the same principle as long as your carbon intensity shrinks faster than the economy grows.

Bloomberg article: https://t.co/xWmd0A0RJU