Climeworks calls for a move from Climate Change to Change Climate

Climeworks, a pioneer in direct air capture, is calling on us all to take one small specific action to slow Climate Change – and move from thinking about Climate Change to Changing the Climate.

Climate change is happening all around us. But there’s still hope we can change the climate, positively and permanently. To make this change a reality we need to offer solutions that can be accessed by anyone, easily and without huge expense.

A simple solution, that is available now, is to remove CO₂ from the air – safely and permanently.  Even capturing small amounts of carbon dioxide, if repeated again and again, can make a real impact and change the climate for the better.

Why do we need to remove CO₂? The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report made it clear that, if humanity wants to limit global warming to 1.5°C and become net negative after 2050, reducing emissions won’t be enough, we need to remove CO₂ from the air. That’s where climate tech comes in and scaling up direct air capture technology becomes necessary.

Direct Air Capture is a method of removing carbon dioxide from the air. The technology has been pioneered by Climeworks and is now available to everyone to help us all take small, but repeated actions, that will result in a real difference.

By signing up for a Climeworks’ Carbon Dioxide Removal subscription, you can take measurable action to remove historic CO₂ from the atmosphere and help reduce the long-term impacts of climate change.

There are four subscriptions levels:

• Special Expedition: GBP £90 per month for 100 kg of CO₂ removal
• Discoverer: GBP £45 per month for 50 kg of CO₂ removal
• Explorer: GBP £27 per month for 30 kg of CO₂ removal
• Customize: you can choose an amount to suit your lifestyle

Simply choose a level of climate-positive action that matches your lifestyle and complete the sign up. The subscription is highly flexible: You choose the amount of CO₂ you want to remove on a monthly or annual basis. No strings attached: pause or cancel at any time. Each year, Climeworks will send you a confirmation of the amount of carbon dioxide removal you have ordered. In addition, the subscriptions can be used as eco-friendly gifts to remove CO₂ in the name of a loved one.

“Changing our climate seems like an impossible problem, one that is simply too big to tackle. But using the power of small, single actions, repeated over time we can make a real change. Removing small, amounts of carbon dioxide every month, and inviting your friends to do the same can, and will, make a real and measurable difference. These small, repeated actions are what the climate needs, and they are the only way we can truly make our voices heard and powerful.” said Rachael O’Brien from Climeworks.

A Climeworks carbon dioxide removal subscription is not only the most eco-friendly and sustainable subscription you can have; it is an alternative and unique way to start building the solutions that will change the climate. It is essential that the world continues with nature-based solutions such as planting trees, and alongside this we must remove excess CO₂ from the air.

When a tree is planted it takes approximately 10 years before the carbon dioxide is removed whereas direct air capture, even allowing for build time, takes around five years – half the time of a tree.  In addition, direct air capture, as a method of removing CO₂ is much more efficient than planting trees. “On a land area of 1’700 m2 (0.42 acres), Climeworks’ Orca plant nominally removes 4,000 tons of CO₂ from the air every year, which is almost 1,000 times more effective than trees. The same land area would host approx. 220 trees with an estimated carbon sequestration capacity of 21kg each per year, i.e. a total capacity of 4.62 tons per year.”

All Climeworks plants are powered by renewal energy and have a greater than 90% net removal of carbon dioxide over their entire lifecycle (including build and end of life).

Climeworks’ technological solution is a permanent, measurable, efficient and natural way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

About Climeworks:

Climeworks empowers people to reverse climate change by permanently removing carbon dioxide from the air.

One of two things happens to the Climeworks air-captured carbon dioxide: either it is returned to earth, stored safely and permanently away for millions of years, or it is upcycled into climate-friendly products such as carbon-neutral fuels and materials. The Climeworks direct air capture technology runs exclusively on clean energy, and the modular CO₂ collectors can be stacked to build machines of any capacity.

Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, Climeworks strives to inspire 1 billion people to act now and remove carbon dioxide from the air.

Together we can build a climate-positive world. Join us!

Web: https://www.climeworks.com

Key FAQs:

Why do we need to remove CO₂?

Multiple climate studies published recently (IPCC Special Report, EASAC, NAS) clearly state that in order to achieve climate targets, not only do we need to do everything we can to reduce emissions; we also need to accelerate climate change solutions, actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Climate scientists agree that by 2050, direct air capture needs to remove between 5 and 30 billion tons of CO₂ annually if we want to achieve net zero emissions globally. To reach this level of carbon dioxide removal, direct air capture needs to be scaled up significantly, starting today.

What is the difference between Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal service and traditional carbon offsetting?

Traditional carbon offsets are typically a trade of avoided emissions: someone reduces emissions on behalf of the offset buyer who pays for the other party’s emissions reduction (= avoidance certificates). Thereby, the offset buyer continues emitting. If done in a transparent way, this trade will at best result in a short-term emissions reduction but never lead to the zero and negative emissions that we need to keep global warming in check.

What Climeworks does is fundamentally different. Rather than trading avoided emissions, we physically remove carbon dioxide emissions that are difficult to otherwise avoid. Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal (= removal certificates) is further permanent and fully measurable, as every ton of carbon dioxide removed from the air and stored underground can be precisely measured using standard industry measurement equipment.

What does CO₂ look like in kg?

We often don’t realize, or simply ignore, how much CO₂ is produced by the objects we use in our daily lives. All objects and many of our daily activities generate more CO₂ than we think. Here are the most common and unavoidable actions:

• Mobile phone use: 35kg is generated by mobile phone use for 10 hours, about 3.5kg per hour
• Hot shower: 12kg is generated for an hour-long hot shower, about 2kg every 10 minutes
• Average meal: 5kg is generated by average meals of a week, 3 meals a day of approx. 600 cal