In the linked interview Michelle You, cofounder of Supercritical, a carbon-accounting firm, emphasizes the critical role of carbon removal in achieving net zero emissions. With current global capacity for carbon removal at a fraction of the required billions of tons per year, You compares the nascent carbon removal industry to the early days of solar power, which saw exponential growth and cost reduction thanks to investment and scaling.
You outlines the current state of the carbon offset market, where 95% consists of emissions-avoidance offsets, which are prone to fraud and do not contribute to net zero because they don’t remove the emitted carbon. Supercritical focuses on sourcing and vetting genuine carbon-removal suppliers to ensure their offsets represent real, permanently removed carbon.
For more details read the full interview here:
If the world is to reach net zero, billions of tons of carbon dioxide need pulling from the air every year. At the moment, the global carbon removal system extracts less than 0.01 percent of that.
Source: It’s Time to Get Serious About Carbon Removal | WIRED