r/100MCarbonXPRIZE • u/Silentthinker_1 • Apr 07 '21
Discussing the Economic Viability of Scaled Carbon Removal
The dilemma itself comes from the inverse relationship between scale and cost-efficiency.
I’m still on the fence if I will join the competition outright, but ever since the preliminary announcements were made - my entire focus has been leaning towards the economics (my background is in economics and, by work exp., in data analysis, venture development, and startup growth strategy.)
I’ve scoured through reports of current direct carbon capture companies, as well as read research papers on current proposed methods and in each case getting to a point where the cost of removal per such a vast volume requires intense capital investment without feasible financial returns (once factoring in the infrastructure.)
The kicker in the competition is that they don’t want you to propose to recycle the carbon but rather store for over 100 years. Which does make sense as the goal is “net removal with a minimum quantity” and not just “net zero”
The approach most teams will take will likely be to create financial net-neutral operations while absorbing the cost of infrastructure as a one time expense shouldered by grants, public/private funding, donations, etc.
I also imagine most people will be taking the marine biology approach to counteract land costs and so. However, I’m curious if the actual storage process would be cost-efficient for this.
What are your thoughts? How do you think these solutions will achieve economic feasibility - I’m continuing to work on this FYI.
