$100M xPrize for Carbon Removal • Hacker News Board

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#11

Post by ianlevesque » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

BitwiseFool wrote: post #7

giantg2 wrote: post #2

Time to quit my job and become an inventor (actually something I thought was a real thing when I was a kid). My idiot-layman brain says buy it from AirGas or capture from large emitters and pipe it into a geological structures like the do for storing helium. It could probably only get to gigatons if it's worldwide and we have enough geological structures capable of containing it.

I thought the same thing as a child. Recently I realized that programming and making apps is like being an inventor. When I make applications for other people to use, is that not akin to making some kind of new machine or tool?

Yeah, it's akin to it. In the won't help you get laid way.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#12

Post by BitwiseFool » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:32 PM UTC

wyager wrote: post #3

How is the answer to “carbon removal” not just “turn deserts into plant areas” or “encourage algae blooms” or something? It seems implausible to me that any chemical carbon extraction process has superior externalities to just planting more trees or something.

All the fossil fuels we've been burning is introducing carbon back into the biosphere. The key to carbon removal is to sequester it back somewhere where it won't be circulating in nature. It's not enough to plant more trees, as those new trees' carbon will just continue to cycle through the environment.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#13

Post by sailingparrot » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:34 PM UTC

wyager wrote: post #3

How is the answer to “carbon removal” not just “turn deserts into plant areas” or “encourage algae blooms” or something? It seems implausible to me that any chemical carbon extraction process has superior externalities to just planting more trees or something.

> not just “turn deserts into plant areas” or “encourage algae blooms” or something?

That might be slightly more tricky (and less efficient) than you seem to imagine.

Also, the prize is not exclusively for "chemical" carbon extraction, if you can find a way to scale algae bloom to be a long term carbon sink without ruining the environment in other ways you are eligible:

> Any carbon negative solution is eligible: nature-based, direct air capture, oceans, mineralization, or anything else that achieves net negative emissions, sequesters CO2 durably, and show a sustainable path to achieving low cost at gigatonne scale.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#14

Post by thereisnospork » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:35 PM UTC

wedn3sday wrote: post #4

Here's my proposal, take that $100M and find a Saudi/Venezuela oil well operator. Give him the $100M in exchange for not pumping $100M worth of oil out of the ground.

At 50$/BBl that's 2 million barrels, or one quarter of one day's worth of oil production for Saudi Arabia alone [0]. A new technology could do far more than just 'disappearing' 100 million dollars worth of oil.

[0]https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-ne...

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#15

Post by amelius » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:38 PM UTC

AlexCoventry wrote: post #6

wedn3sday wrote: post #4

Here's my proposal, take that $100M and find a Saudi/Venezuela oil well operator. Give him the $100M in exchange for not pumping $100M worth of oil out of the ground.

How would you cost-effectively enforce that commitment?

Buying the oil and not burning it.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#16

Post by MattRix » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:38 PM UTC

ianlevesque wrote: post #11

BitwiseFool wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same thing as a child. Recently I realized that programming and making apps is like being an inventor. When I make applications for other people to use, is that not akin to making some kind of new machine or tool?

Yeah, it's akin to it. In the won't help you get laid way.

???

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#17

Post by oezi » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:39 PM UTC

wedn3sday wrote: post #4

Here's my proposal, take that $100M and find a Saudi/Venezuela oil well operator. Give him the $100M in exchange for not pumping $100M worth of oil out of the ground.

How about just buying the oil and putting it into storage somewhere (maybe just buy oil ships with oil in them).

This will drive up price of oil for everyone which is the most effective way to accelerate the adoption of renewables.

The world spends 6-9bn USD per day on oil (100m barrels at 60-90 USD), maybe we start with spending 1bn per day.

Edit: Fixed calculation.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#18

Post by amanaplanacanal » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:41 PM UTC

oezi wrote: post #17

wedn3sday wrote: post #4

Here's my proposal, take that $100M and find a Saudi/Venezuela oil well operator. Give him the $100M in exchange for not pumping $100M worth of oil out of the ground.

How about just buying the oil and putting it into storage somewhere (maybe just buy oil ships with oil in them). This will drive up price of oil for everyone which is the most effective way to accelerate the adoption of renewables. The world spends 6-9bn USD per day on oil (100m barrels at 60-90 USD), maybe we start with spending 1bn per day. Edit: Fixed calculation.

Buying oil incentivizes producing more oil

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#19

Post by oezi » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

amanaplanacanal wrote: post #18

oezi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about just buying the oil and putting it into storage somewhere (maybe just buy oil ships with oil in them). This will drive up price of oil for everyone which is the most effective way to accelerate the adoption of renewables. The world spends 6-9bn USD per day on oil (100m barrels at 60-90 USD), maybe we start with spending 1bn per day. Edit: Fixed calculation.

Buying oil incentivizes producing more oil

We will pump the earth empty anyway, right?

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#20

Post by idolaspecus » Tue, Jul 13, 2021, 6:45 PM UTC

oezi wrote: post #17

wedn3sday wrote: post #4

Here's my proposal, take that $100M and find a Saudi/Venezuela oil well operator. Give him the $100M in exchange for not pumping $100M worth of oil out of the ground.

How about just buying the oil and putting it into storage somewhere (maybe just buy oil ships with oil in them). This will drive up price of oil for everyone which is the most effective way to accelerate the adoption of renewables. The world spends 6-9bn USD per day on oil (100m barrels at 60-90 USD), maybe we start with spending 1bn per day. Edit: Fixed calculation.

FWIW 100m * 100 = 10bn