Following the development of engines powered by seawater, the United States continues to surprise. It has now begun absorbing the atmosphere, swallowing 2 billion tons from the ground! This news arrives at a critical time for the planet, given the ongoing threats of global warming and climate change. Much of the Earth’s current crisis is driven by carbon dioxide, a colorless, odorless gas composed of oxygen and carbon.
Its emissions are one of the primary drivers of global warming, mainly resulting from human activity, with its impact worsened by CO2’s long lifespan in the atmosphere. Also known as carbonic anhydride, it exists in the atmosphere at an average concentration of 380 parts per million.
Carbon dioxide itself isn’t toxic, but its presence indoors requires caution. High CO2 concentrations in enclosed spaces could lead to oxygen displacement, potentially causing asphyxiation. While not directly harmful, its buildup in closed spaces can affect human well-being.
The United States has a plan for CO2 in the atmosphere
A U.S. startup has invented an agricultural robot that converts plant waste into biochar to capture CO2 safely for decades. Applied Carbon has developed a unique technology capable of transforming residual biomass into biochar, a charcoal-like substance that securely locks away carbon for decades. It’s very easy to release carbon into the atmosphere and accelerate climate change.
However, removing it is much more challenging. Several startups are already experimenting with massive industrial systems to extract this pollutant from the air, with facilities that can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. Applied Carbon is drawing on an ancient practice that turns residual biomass into a charcoal-like substance known as biochar, which can store carbon for decades, or even centuries.
If executed correctly, it has the potential to remove up to 2 billion metric tons of carbon per year while also boosting crop yields on farms. For over 2,000 years, biochar was produced to improve soils in the Amazon basin, and today, around 10% of the soils in that region still show evidence of biochar amendments. However, its production was labor-intensive and typically done on-site.
One of the biggest challenges facing biochar is logistics. Gathering enough plant waste, transporting it to a storage facility, and then returning the biochar to agricultural fields—where it is often used as a soil amendment—is costly and highly energy-intensive. This process can offset a significant portion of biochar’s carbon benefits.
The United States is absorbing the atmosphere: it has a clear plan for CO2
To tackle this problem, Applied Carbon has flipped the process around. Instead of transporting agricultural waste to a biochar facility, they brought the facility to the farm. This is how Applied Carbon, formerly known as Climate Robotics, came to be. Their proposed solution is an agricultural machine with a steampunk-inspired design. This device is towed by a tractor and supplied by a harvester, which drops crop residues into a hopper where they are shredded.
The shredded material is then dried using recycled hot gas from the pyrolysis reactor, the next step in the process. During pyrolysis, the waste is converted into biochar and syngas, which powers the machine. The biochar is quenched with water, spread onto the soil, and mixed in using a disc harrow. Despite the machine’s complexity, they claim it simplifies the process.
