MAti Carbon has an ambitious goal: by 2040, remove 100 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it helps 100 million farmers around the global south.
A company currently operating in Indian farms wants to expand to Zambia and Tanzania has just stepped closer to achieving its goal. After competing in a four-year global competition, which called for teams to offer and show a scale, a carbon removal solution, Mati Xprize received a carbon removal, a $ 50 million prize that will help the company expand its operation at the April 23 TIME100 summit.
“The prize itself tries to develop new solutions that can complement other climate solutions,” says Nikki Batchelor, Xpristed Kown emotional activities. “So, first and foremost, let's say we need to reduce the emissions as dramatically as possible … But science now shows us that we need to remove carbon besides it, [and] We now need to develop and bake these technologies and solutions to be ready by 2050 when the world has to operate on a gigaton scale. ”
Time talked to Mati's CEO and science leader Shantanu Agarwal and Jake Jordan about how their technology used as improved rock weather conditions, to provide carbon removal practice – while improving soil health and providing life support for farmers worldwide.
This interview is edited for length and clarity.
Time: What is Mati carbon to do?
Shantanu agarwal: Mati Carbon has developed a revolutionary technology for expanding the removal of gigaton carbon, which increases air conditioners and offers economic influence to more than 100 million smaller farmers in the world of development, using a natural process called advanced stone flood.
What is the improved weather weather and how it fits into a wider climate fight?
Jake Jordan: Rock weather is always on earth. The stones decompose as the rain and water wash above them. What we do is that we powder the volcanic stone, we put it on the farmers' fields of the small owner of our partners. When this powdered stone comes into contact with water and gas, it begins to decompose. And unfortunately, the CO2 level will ever rise in our atmosphere, so much of the gas that this stone is in contact with wet and is broken down is CO2. If this stone interacts with water and at the same time with CO2, CO2 can chemically reorganize the carbon dissolved phase, called hydrogen carbonates, which stays in the water and eventually flows into rivers, aquifers or oceans where it can be stored over the millennia. This makes what we call durable carbon dioxide removal.
And the added bonus – as these stones fall apart in the field, they release all small treats and nutrients contained in these minerals and ends up in the farmers' field, so our climate solution not only removes durably carbon dioxide, but actually actually [helps] Some of the most vulnerable farmers who are most influenced by climate change and the least responsible for it. So we see that this is a kind of double win for us.
Part of the X prize competition showing that gigatons could be removed a year. How would Mati carbon do it?
Agarwal: For Mati's carbon, this means thousands and thousands of locations we call “bases”. Each base serves five to 10,000 farmers and we want to repeat these bases throughout the planet, serving millions and millions of farmers. Just as we have introduced Xprize in our demonstration, [there are] Three completely commercial base we have in India. And they came and liquidated one of these bases to see how the work procedures were, how we actually serve farmers, what the farmer's effect was. We have confirmed them and showed them [our] A standard scaling unit, how it works, costs and how it can be copied and pasted worldwide.
How can carbon collection be small for farmers?
Agarwal: Net result [is] that the farmer increases productivity. In typical well-fertilized soils, we see the increased productivity of these farmers by about 20-25%. And in deteriorated soils, we see increased productivity of 50-70% … So they have a huge impact, directly on their income due to increased productivity, but also their ability to use less pesticide. This is becoming a game for people who live from the crop to the crop. Suddenly, 30% or 50% increased income means that they can pay their debt. They can suddenly get more irrigation equipment or better seeds. It is a changing life.
What happens next for Mati carbon?
Agarwal: Our company is founded on the basis of [being] Farmer first. And to this extent, we essentially structured our company as a non -profit organization and decided not to take equity from venture capital funds. We are basically dependent on grants and charity that are really extensive, and it has restricted us by the fact that we cannot spread as fast and as much as we would like. This Xprize gives us essentially a wing to dream now … and runs really after and achieves a complete mission if 100 million farmers can touch over the next 15 to 20 years.
What do you hope that people take away from your work?
Agarwal: I hope this prize and what we try to do is give people hope and give people guidance. Trails that help the planet and help smaller farmers are possible and are economically viable for market -based mechanisms. I think Mati Carbon has proven that we can build a viable business with our unique business model with its unique technology and to compete with the best and strong looks of the world. I want to give the world this hope, I hope to other competitors, other companies, other people who we really need to solve the problems in front of us and simply not deny them.
