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Last winter was the warmest ever since weather records began. Globally, the period from December to February had an average temperature of 13.54 degrees Celsius, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This means that the temperature was 1.77 degrees above the average for the years 1850 to 1900. And the climate situation in Germany did not look any better. According to a Report of the German Weather Service The average temperature in the 2023/2024 season was 4.1 degrees Celsius, 3.9 degrees higher than the internationally valid reference period from 1961 to 1990. And compared to the current and warmer reference period from 1991 to 2020, the deviation was still 2.7 degrees.
CCS and CCU are intended to save the climate
The warming continues to progress, while at the same time no state createsto pursue climate policy that is compatible with the 1.5-degree target. Therefore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection recently saw a change of opinion regarding CO2 storage. Only at the end of February Minister Habeck announcedthat Germany intends to enable the use of CCS (carbon capture and storage) and CCU (carbon capture and usage). While the focus of efforts remains on preventing emissions from occurring in the first place, the ministry stated, CCS and CCU are necessary to achieve Germany's climate goals.
Equally necessary to achieve the global goals are new technologies and solutions, such as those being developed by numerous startups. Breathing (formerly: Point Twelve), for example, has developed an IoT and SaaS platform that enables companies that manufacture energy-intensive goods to certify their production more efficiently. To do this, the startup simplifies existing solutions for verifying the use of renewable energy. We explain what's behind the startup's solution starting at minute 5:25.
CO2 storage in the sea and forests
The German-Brazilian startup Inplanet is dedicated to the storage of CO2 (from minute 8:50). To do this, the startup uses the geological process of enhanced rock weathering. This process captures CO2 from the air and ultimately ends up as sediment on the seabed. The process, which is also being developed by the British University of Sheffield, in a large-scale experiment has been studied, has another positive effect. When used on fields, farmers can reduce the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides.
Another natural form of CO2 storage is forests. The Munich-based startup Pina Earth wants to help forest owners optimize this process, convert their forests to climate-friendly standards, and generate and trade CO2 certificates in the process. The startup has already achieved initial success: Its forest conversion projects already cover 2,200 hectares in Germany. More than 120,000 tons of additional CO2 storage potential have already been created. We reveal how Pina Earth's online platform achieves all this and who is behind it, starting at minute 12:45.
A remedy for the “flexibility gap”
With Phelas Let us then take a look at energy production, which is according to the Federal Environment Agency is responsible for a good 37 percent of Germany's greenhouse gas emissions. While the transition to renewable energies is making significant progress here, it presents a new challenge with the so-called "flexibility gap." Conventional power plants have traditionally compensated for fluctuations in electricity generation. However, when they are shut down, flexibility is lost. Energy storage systems are designed to compensate for this. The Munich-based startup Phelas, which we introduce starting at minute 17:30, is addressing this issue and developing energy storage systems that operate with liquefied air.
Carbon Removal Partners and Climate Solutions
And we also introduce an investor again in this episode. Carbon Removal Partners (from minute 22:00) from Zurich supports early-stage startups specializing in removing CO2 from the atmosphere. To this end, the Zurich-based company not only invests financially in the young company but also introduces it to its international network. The goal is always to pave the way for CO2 removal on an industrial scale.
