Take a break from your climate change-induced stress sweats for a moment. There might just be some (renewable energy-powered) light at the end of this tunnel.

Carbon sequestration - trees do it, the ocean does, even some particular carbonate rocks do it. Our planet is generously sprinkled with these carbon sinks that naturally absorb and store CO2. So since we seem to have an excess of the stuff, why not just plant a bunch of carbon-loving redwoods and go back to driving our Hummers to the mall?

As it turns out, these natural carbon sinks aren’t equipped to take on all the CO2 we spew into the atmosphere with reckless abandon. But thankfully, what nature can do, humans can imitate. And maybe even do it a little faster. Which is exactly what the team at Heirloom is working on.

Heirloom is building a Direct Air Capture technology that permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere using limestone, a superabundant mineral found everywhere from the Cliffs of Dover to the gravel walkway outside your house.

Limestone naturally absorbs and holds onto CO2, but this process takes years to occur in nature. Heirloom’s process speeds things up to just a matter of days.

How it works:

Limestone is crushed and heated up using an electric kiln powered by renewable energy. When the limestone reaches about 900 ºC, that CO2 it was holding onto for dear life is released. The released CO2 then gets pumped into special geological underground structures that are approved by the EPA to be safe, secure, and to not leak.

Currently, a majority (but not all) of the underground structures that are approved for the safe storage of sequestered carbon are created through enhanced oil recovery –– a process where the desired result is to push as much crude oil out of the ground as possible by pumping captured CO2 in. This process is one of the first ways that capturing carbon became profitable for companies intending to bury it. This sounds like a good thing until you realize many companies are only capturing CO2 so they can draw out more crude oil and put that captured CO2 right back into the atmosphere.

But Heirloom, like many of the other new Direct Air Capture companies, is doing things differently. Heirloom’s goal is to capture CO2, bury it in the ground, and keep it there.

A perk to Heirloom’s process is that the same limestone can be reused within the system over and over, repeatedly absorbing and releasing CO2 like a reusable kitchen sponge. This is a circular process that minimizes the mining intensity of acquiring more limestone.

By sharpening their process, Heirloom aims to permanently sequester 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2035 –– a climate goal that is refreshingly not that far in the future.

“The IPCC recommends 6-10 billion tonnes [of CO2 from the atmosphere] be removed every year by 2050. It will take a range of technologies to make this happen” says Heirloom’s Head of Marketing and Communications, Alexa Dennett. So while Heirloom’s tech is exciting, it’s not a magic wand. “It's not just us, but an ecosystem of carbon removal technologies that are removing CO2 from the atmosphere. It will take a portfolio of solutions,” says Dennett. “We will need massive net-new renewable energy and more geological storage for CO2.”

As different carbon dioxide removal methods continue to pop up, more renewable energy and permanent storage ecosystems will also need to grow over the next decade to keep up. Though there are several permitted Class VI wells due to be approved in the next few years, there are currently not enough wells in the US to store all the carbon dioxide that needs to be sequestered over the next decade. There isn’t even enough space for the carbon that Heirloom alone hopes to safely store.

Heirloom is planning to launch its direct air capture facility next year. In the meantime, they’re also prioritizing how they can better serve communities that will feel the effect of climate change the most. This includes siting their facilities in the communities impacted by job loss in the oil and gas sector and focusing on climate equity. “This type of tech has the opportunity to be a great equalizer,” says Dennett. “Large-scale deployment will hopefully result in better-served communities, preserved ecosystems, and cleaner air for all.

An EPA report from last year showed that the effects of climate change will be disproportionately felt by communities that are “unable to prepare for, and recover from heat waves, poor air quality, flooding, and other impacts.” Heirloom’s CEO Shashank Samala adds that while growing up in India, he saw firsthand how vulnerable people are being impacted by climate change. Not just in the future, but today.

How to get involved:

The passion and urgency at Heirloom is real and infectious. If you’re excited by their work, check out their careers page where you’ll see they’re hiring for over 30 different roles. And Alexa has some great advice for anyone feeling hesitant to make the jump to work in climate tech: “this is a new space, this tech has just started to be commercialized. So if you’re interested in this space but hesitant to make the jump because you don’t feel like you have enough experience, don’t be, because very few people do. There aren’t that many people with knowledge in this space. If you care and you think you have something to offer, go for it.”

🌎 Climate Jobs

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore thousands of other opportunities.

Kodama Systems

"Kodama is developing technology to improve climate resilience and carbon storage in forests. We're tackling this challenge end-to-end by automating machinery, optimizing on-the-ground operations, and developing new methods of carbon storage. ..."

• Autonomy Systems Engineer (Remote ((Multiple States), United States))
• Robotics Engineer (Remote ((Multiple States), United States))
• Implementation Specialist (Remote (Sonora, CA, United States))
• Business Development Lead (Remote ((Multiple States), United States))
• Operations Lead (Remote (Sonora, CA, United States))
• Autonomy Software Engineer (Full Stack) (Remote ((Multiple States), United States))

WasteX

"WasteX is a one-stop waste-to-value solution for agricultural producers in Southeast Asia ..."

• VP R&D / Applications (Biochar) (Remote (Singapore))
• VP Product (Remote (Singapore))

Kim Lundgren Associates

"KLA is a small, woman-owned, benefit corporation that partners with cities, towns and counties across the US to design and implement aggressive, equitable climate action solutions. KLA excels in the local climate and sustainability arena because that’s all we do.  ..."

• Marketing & Social Media Coordinator (Remote)
• Climate Analyst (Remote)
• Climate Action Planning Director (Massachusetts) (Remote (Massachusetts, USA))

Friends of the Earth

"Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature ... "

• Senior Manager/Director, Philanthropy Remote-Band D/E (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Senior Food and Climate Policy Analyst (Band C) Washington DC or Remote (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Senior Campaigner, Climate and Agriculture Finance (Band C) Remote (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Ports and Freights Campaigner-Remote (Band B) (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Political Intern (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Food Policy Intern (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• Digital Advocacy Manager-Remote (Band D) (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))
• China Sustainable Finance Campaigner (Band B) (Remote (Washington, District of Columbia))

Verdonck Partners

"Verdonck Partners is an independent financial advisory firm focused on energy and infrastructure. Verdonck Partners advises large institutional and strategic investors, as well as leading renewable project developers and owners. We work on both on platform and project transactions across solar, wind, ..."

• Senior Associate - Financial Advisory / Banking (New York, NY, USA)

Rumin8

"Rumin8 is tackling one of the biggest contributors to climate change: methane emissions from livestock.  ..."

• Senior Strategy Analyst (Remote)

Agricarbon UK Ltd

"Agricarbon is an industry leader in helping a wide range of high-end/top draw clients to participate in removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soil.  ..."

• Sales and Business Development Executive (Remote)

Travertine

"Travertine is a Carbon Dioxide Removal and industrial chemical production company based in Boulder, CO. We are building a cost-effective, gigaton-scale CDR solution that co-produces sulfuric acid for use in critical element extraction. ..."

• Research Technician (Boulder, CO, USA)

Shifted Energy

"Shifted Energy provides an asset agnostic, machine learning-based virtual power plant aggregation platform, as well as IoT-connected load control switches with integrated submetering suitable for deployment on L1 EVSE, electric resistance, and heat pump water heaters, pool pumps, and (currently in development) irrigators and L2 EVSE.  ..."

• Director of Business Development (Remote)

Form Energy

"We are developing a new class of cost-effective, multi-day energy storage systems that will enable a reliable and fully-renewable electric grid year-round. ..."

They are hiring across the following departments:

• Operations
• Communications
• Finance
• People & HR
• Finance
• Policy
• Program Management
• Supply Chain
• Software Engineering
  
• Hardware Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• Internships
• General Application

Inspire Clean Energy

"Inspire is a clean energy technology company on a mission to transform the way people access clean energy and accelerate the world toward a net-zero carbon future. Through a subscription model, Inspire allows customers to access 100% clean energy for one flat monthly price.  ..."

They are hiring across the following departments:

• Analytics
• Operations
• IT
• Partnership
• Software Engineering

Regrow Ag

"Agriculture has the power to reverse climate change. At Regrow, we believe that transforming agriculture systems is the single most important thing we can do to combat climate change — and we believe that science and technology can help us get there. ..."

They are hiring across the following departments:

• Product Manager
• IT
• Software Engineer
• Policy
• Sales

cKinetics

"cKinetics ( www.cKinetics.com) is a mission driven Sustainability Insight, Innovation & Capital Advisory Firm. We work with businesses, investors, industry groups as well as thought leaders to continually generate market insight and catalyze change.  ..."

• Manager (Research and Advisory)- Carbon markets (New Delhi, Delhi, India)
• Analyst / Associate - Carbon markets (those new to this sector welcome to apply) (Remote (Cupertino, CA, USA))
• Manager (Lead Economist) - Carbon Markets Analytics and Forecasts (New Delhi, Delhi, India)

HST

"HST is the leading cloud-based platform for clean energy development and procurement, with over 20,000 clean energy projects on the network totaling more than 800 GW (260 million American homes worth) in 100 countries. ..."

• Full Stack Software Engineer (SF Bay, California, USA)

United by Zero

"United by Zero makes shopping sustainably simple through an artful combination of technology and science. We believe that finding sustainable alternatives to fast fashion should be as easy as a click of a button. ..."

• Graphic designer Intern (Part Time/Unpaid) (Remote)
• Social media Intern (Remote)
• Sustainable Fashion Copy Writer (Internship/Part Time) (Remote)
• Video content creator Intern (Part-time/Unpaid) (Remote)

Synoptic Data PBC

"Synoptic’s mission is to provide expanded access to environmental data in order to enhance public safety, improve the productivity of government agencies and commercial entities, and assist in research and educational initiatives to advance the understanding of Earth systems. ..."

• Senior DBA (Database Administrator) (Remote)

Cove Tool, Inc.

"cove.tool is a web based platform for analyzing, drawing, engineering, and connecting data for sustainable building design and construction ..."

• Marketing Coordinator (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
• Strategic Customer Success Manager (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
• Sales Executive (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
• High Performance Building Director (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
• Join the cove.tool Talent Pool (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)

That's it for this week! Remember, you can always view thousands of more jobs on Climatebase.org.

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