Eric Toone serves as a technical investor lead. Bill Gates‘ climate tech investment firm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Two people must sign off for any deal to be funded. He has approved five carbon capture investment deals, of which four have been made public.

Primary cause of climate change caused by humans is the emission of carbon dioxide through fossil fuel combustion. Carbon capture is a set of methods — some time-tested, some experimental — for reducing carbon dioxide emissions either by removing them at the source or from the atmosphere. In discussions on capture and sequestration technology, the term carbon is frequently used to refer to carbon dioxide.

Toone is aware of the objections to carbon capture technology but he remains optimistic.

He said that one of the biggest concerns is that carbon capture technology could be a moral hazard to CNBC. If carbon capture technology becomes cost effective, then companies might not decarbonize their operations — they’ll just continue emitting and then pulling the carbon they emitted out of the atmosphere, effectively treading water in the emissions race.

Critics argue that companies should instead focus on decarbonizing operations through renewable energy use and energy efficiency.

Toone says this is false dichotomy.

Toone said to CNBC, “It must be all the above.”

This is also the conclusion of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Carbon dioxide removal is “necessary” for “counterbalancing ‘hard-to-abate’ residual emissions” and it “is also an essential element 34 of scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C or likely below 2°C by 2100,” the technical summary of the report says.

The voluntary carbon capture market, as it stands now, is open to all companies. Recently, there have been some positive developments in this market. In mid-April for example. the online payments-technology provider StripeWe have partnered with many other tech companies including Google parent. Alphabet and Facebook parent MetaTo invest nearly $1 billion in the growth of carbon-capture markets

Stripe is open to the idea of other companies contributing funds, although he also realizes that government intervention will be necessary. Florian Maganza, Stripe’s CEO, said that government intervention could take the form of funding research or a price for carbon.

The demand side of the equation is still uncertain. There is some demand from industry — the carbonated beverage industry, for example, pays up to $1,000 a ton for carbon dioxide in some markets, while the oil industry pays around $35 a ton for carbon dioxide to use in enhanced oil recovery, Toone explains. However, most carbon capture markets assume that the government will provide incentives or regulation to increase the market’s ability to capture carbon dioxide. As climate change is more evident and becomes a pressing issue, it becomes necessary for governments and other agencies.

“Until society prices carbon — no, there’s no way to make money on carbon capture other than through voluntary markets,” Toone said. It’s Wild West.

There are 25 countries that have their own carbon markets.

“The largest – by far – is China,” Toone told CNBC.

China’s system is focused first on power and then on emission per unit. Each producer will give information about their output, including power and emissions. The credit is based on past output. Producers can either receive or pay credit depending on whether or not they have exceeded or under their allowance. 

U.S. Government has set a goal of removing multiple gigatons (or one billion metric tonnes) of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere by 2050, and storing it for $100/ton less. This is the goal of The Department of Energy. Carbon Negative Earthshot.

For the carbon capture project to be successful, the amount of carbon emissions created to make the energy to operate the carbon capture machinery must be less than the carbon dioxide captured by the contraption — otherwise the whole effort is null and void.

Toone stated that “Yes, the numbers get quite scary.”

Toone says that there are currently two leading companies in this field. Carbon Engineering Climeworks. (Breakthrough does not invest in any of these.

Climeworks currently has the ability to capture carbon dioxide from approximately $600-$800 per pound. Judith HebekeuserClimeworks communications manager told CNBC. This cost would drop to $250-$300 per ton by 2030, if Climeworks has a production capacity of thousands of tons. The industry should mature as it is expected and costs will drop to $100-200 per ton.

Toone claims that $100/ton is an achievable goal for the U.S. government.

Toone pointed out that “the cost of solar has dropped 300-fold since 1975.” Toone noted that it passes the “giggle test”.

There are two main ways that carbon can be stored once it is taken from the atmosphere: geologic or biologic. Biologic carbon sequestration refers to the storage of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the form of plants, soil or wood. Geologic carbon storage is the underground storage of carbon dioxide. To achieve this, companies pump carbon dioxide into underground caves or blend it with another liquid, and then pump it into porous rock formations. The CO2 will “mineralize” over time.

Climeworks’ first Icelandic commercial carbon removal plant takes in the carbon dioxide and then gives it back to a partner business. CarbfixThis injects the carbon underground into water, where it reacts with basaltic. Hebekeuser explained to CNBC that the carbon becomes solid rock over the following two years. Climeworks’ main focus is on permanent storage. However, Climeworks can also consider making other fuels, such as carbon-upcycled products, or renewable energy.

These companies are like PachamaBreakthrough Investment Portfolio’s forestry team is working on determining how much carbon can be captured per acre.

A second example is to use calcium silicate (a naturally occurring chemical) and place it on the shore. Calcium silicate reacts in ocean water with carbon dioxide to create calcium carbonate. It is an insoluble substance that sinks into the ocean bottom. Toone who is a biologist, stated that the ocean will keep pulling more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to maintain equilibrium. chemistry professor at Duke University for almost three decadesBe sure to register with Breakthrough before you join.

However, without verification these methods are not viable.

Toone said that the times we live in are absurdly optimistic. People won’t pay to have carbon captured if they feel that it is a fraud. We have to get society on board with this. So I believe validation and verification are very important.”