logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
11m 33s

The massive machines cleaning Earth's at...

TED
About this episode

To restrain global warming, we know we need to drastically reduce pollution. The very next step after that: using both natural and technological solutions to trap as much excess carbon dioxide from the air as possible. Enter Orca, the world's first large-scale direct air capture and storage plant, built in Iceland by the team at Climeworks, led by climate entrepreneur Jan Wurzbacher. This plant is capable of removing 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year. With affordability and scalability in mind, Wurzbacher shares his vision for what comes after Orca, the future of carbon capture tech -- and why these innovations are crucial to stop climate change.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Sunday Pick: How to love your hometown (w/ Hanif Abdurraqib & Sarah Kay) | How to Be a Better Human
<p>Loving where you live means caring for the people who make that place home, says cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib. He invites poet Sarah Kay and Chris Duffy, host of the podcast “How to Be a Better Human,” to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to show off what makes it so special ... Show More
15m 29s
Nov 22
4 hard truths about capitalism and climate | Steve Howard
<p>For decades, investor and business leader Steve Howard watched companies pour money and effort into sustainability initiatives ... and still fall short. The problem isn’t a lack of will, he says; it’s that capitalism and climate have been wired to work against each other. He s ... Show More
16m 37s
Nov 21
The army of autonomous robots restoring nature | Tom Chi
<p>Impact investor Tom Chi challenges a dangerous assumption: that economic growth and ecological health are opposing forces. He reveals how advances in AI and robotics are enabling a radical shift towards innovation as a force for restoration. Imagine mines that extract less, fa ... Show More
19m 29s
Recommended Episodes
May 2023
Meet the massive machines removing carbon from Earth's atmosphere | Jan Wurzbacher
<p>To prevent global warming, we need to drastically reduce pollution. After that, we need to trap as much excess carbon dioxide from the air as possible. Enter Orca, the world's first large-scale direct air capture and storage plant, built in Iceland by the team at Climeworks, l ... Show More
14m 1s
Jun 2022
HIBT Lab! Climeworks: Jan Wurzbacher
<p>According to the 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world needs to cut carbon emissions drastically to avoid the worst effects of global warming. But that’s not all. In addition to reducing emissions, we also need to remove 6 to 10 billi ... Show More
37m 39s
Nov 2021
Geoengineering The Planet
Even with the best efforts, it will be decades before we see any change in global temperatures through our mitigation efforts. Given the pace of global heating and the time lag before our emissions reductions have any impact, scientists are exploring additional ways of reducing g ... Show More
27m 23s
Jun 2021
Can planting trees really stop climate change? | Thomas Crowther
From governments to airlines to your favorite eco-friendly clothing brand, tree-planting campaigns are everywhere. Reforesting the planet has become one of the quickest, easiest and most ubiquitous ways to reduce our carbon footprint...but is it actually helping to stop climate c ... Show More
47m 45s
Jun 2021
Can planting trees really stop climate change? | Thomas Crowther
From governments to airlines to your favorite eco-friendly clothing brand, tree-planting campaigns are everywhere. Reforesting the planet has become one of the quickest, easiest and most ubiquitous ways to reduce our carbon footprint...but is it actually helping to stop climate c ... Show More
47m 45s
Jan 2024
Sourcing biomass for carbon removal
Plants capture hundreds of gigatons of carbon every year in timber, crops, and other forms of biomass. Much of that carbon gets released back into the atmosphere through natural processes and human intervention. But there are a few ways that we can lock it away for good, like bio ... Show More
48m 19s
Jul 2022
Bonus Episode: Why We Must Defeat Climate Change and How to Do It
The earth is getting warmer and the consequences of that have already begun to impact us all. Today, 6 out of 10 Americans describe themselves as “alarmed” or “concerned” about climate change, according to one recent study. Climate change is a huge global problem and there is lik ... Show More
31m 4s
Nov 2023
Big promise, little success: The state of carbon capture
<p>The U.S. is spending billions on carbon capture as a climate solution, but is it realistic? The method has been around for 50 years and used primarily as a way to extract more oil. To find out how and if carbon capture can work as a climate solution, Akshat speaks with Emily G ... Show More
34m 45s