Activate Fellows Aren't Waiting to Decarbonize the Future

By Andrew Chang, Managing Director, Activate New York

COP27 concluded this week with mixed results. As global leaders continue to look for solutions to our climate crisis, Activate Fellows aren’t waiting—they are already urgently building new tools that will make it easier for people around the world to transition away from fossil fuels toward a more resilient, low-carbon economy. This, to me, is a huge inspiration.

Our fellows are leading the charge in decarbonizing everything from our built environment, to new energy sources, to long duration energy storage. Many are also working in the hardest-to-decarbonize industries, building new decarbonization pathways for chemical production, fertilizers, cement, copper, and steel. Some are even creating new technologies to measure and draw down carbon dioxide from our atmosphere in innovative and scalable ways. 

Activate’s CDR roundtable discussion at Climate Week NYC

Earlier this Fall, during Climate Week NYC, Activate brought a large swathe of our community together to advance the conversation on carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Kicking off the week, Activate hosted a roundtable discussion alongside the Direct Air Capture Coalition, Carbon Business Council, and Carbon to Value Initiative. We convened over 50 leaders in the CDR space, including scientists, entrepreneurs, government officials, policy experts, ecosystem builders, and funders. This closed-door session allowed stakeholders to collaborate on CDR’s most pressing issues and build connections within the community. 

Although there already exists considerable energy and excitement around CDR, we saw an opportunity to increase effective communication and coordination among stakeholders. We conducted small group discussions focused on four topics: government; scaling; monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV); and definitions/terminology. Lively discussions ensued. The roundtable adjourned for a happy hour meetup, which included the larger New York climate community.  

Garrett Boudinot (Cohort 2022), co-founder of Vycarb

The CDR roundtable furthered the goals of our Carbon Management Imperative, which seeks to identify, fund, and support Activate Fellows whose innovations show strong potential to remove, capture, convert, or store CO2 at volumes, timescales, and efficiencies needed to meet aggressive climate goals.

The event also provided opportunities for current Activate Fellows to engage with government officials, ecosystem builders, investors, and other entrepreneurs pursuing CDR solutions.  

Fellows like Garrett Boudinot (Cohort 2022) are building new measurement technologies for CDR. Boudinot’s company, Vycarb, measures the amount of carbon dioxide removal from oceans and rivers—the natural pathway through which most of Earth’s carbon dioxide is sequestered—using a novel device to detect dissolved CO2 that can convert into stable inorganic carbon. 

Marissa Beatty (Cohort 2022), co-founder of Turnover Technologies

 Another fellow, Marissa Beatty (Cohort 2022) with her company Turnover Technologies, is working on new, decentralized approaches to decarbonize the chemicals industry by converting industrial waste CO2 into chemicals on-site. This can help build circularity and supply chain resilience while also reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

These fellows—and their colleagues—inspire hope for a new generation of science, innovation, and solutions.