What Climate Issues Are You Most Concerned With? 7/7/2017

What Climate Issues Are You Most Concerned With?

Just the thought of climate issues makes me tense a little. I know I'm not the only one. What if we already have innovative solutions to our climate problems? Would you be interested in learning about some of the novel solutions? Well, we've got the perfect mix of science, agriculture and innovation with our inaugural podcast episode. First, let me begin by thanking you for listening to SAPCO2 podcast. I'd like to begin by stating this is not an attempt to solicit funding of any kind. Second, as we delve into the subject matter of climate change, I know there are various solutions currently competing for recognition. I think that's a good thing. From Elon Musk to Bill Gates, Entrepreneurs are using their ingenuity to tackle today's biggest challenges. So is our podcast pioneer.

Let me introduce our main guest on this podcast episode.

Wilson Hago started worrying about climate issues working for a company in California called Cool Planet Energy Systems located about an hour north of Los Angeles. This company amazingly was worried about the existential risks associated with continued consumption of gasoline products and its effect on planetary temperature. Being backed by venture capital, it collected investments exceeding $150M in its efforts. Wilson learned a lot working for the company and was employee number twenty-two - #22. An important lesson learned was the idea of carbon negativity, where carbon is extracted from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and converted to a long-term storage material.

The advantage of this process is that it gives Hago Energetics a chance at solving a major global problem with the free market, and help rebuild the soil in the process.

Fast forward to present day, Wilson is now running a company called Hago Energetics. At Hago Energetics, the idea of carbon negativity is being extended and applied to carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The basic idea is to take these emissions and, using renewable energy such as solar panels, wind and biomass, and to convert these emissions to liquid fuels and carbon that will be stored in the soil in perpetuity. The advantage of this process is that it gives Hago Energetics a chance at solving a major global problem with the free market, and help rebuild the soil in the process.

The storage carbon is a soil amendment which can help plants grow faster. In conversations Wilson had with famers in California, while listening to their concerns, he stated to SAPCO2 podcast that

"I know that this product can help these farmers and pretty much all farmers in the world."

Hago Energetics' approach has been vetted by industry professionals. Indeed, the company placed as semi-finalists in the Carbon XPRIZE, a worldwide challenge aiming to find good uses to carbon dioxide. Hago Energetics is prototyping a machine that performs this conversion. In that regard, they are looking at tapping the public markets to help them build this machine. In future podcasts, we will describe the technological approach in more detail. We will also take a broader look at the problem of carbon dioxide conversion and utilization.