Technologies AofV Supports
In its fight against climate change, the Army of Volunteers for Earth (AofV) aims to pave the way for groundbreaking technologies that:
- curb GHG emissions
- remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and oceans
- and foster a circular economy.
We work to connect the missing dots for startup climate technology companies to succeed and reach a global market sooner. We believe supporting the marketplace is the quickest way to slow down the effects of anthropogenic activities on nature. Currently, AofV promotes the following low-carbon technologies, negative emission technologies, and bioremediation solutions:
Carbon Removals and Carbon Sinks Protection
The world is learning how to capture carbon mainly in the form of CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it back into the lithosphere. Many ways to do this are under development and need to scale quickly:
- Direct Air Capture (DAC): Artificial air-sucking systems (fans) pump environmental air through filters to absorb CO2 and consequently, reduce it in the atmosphere
- Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Power generation using organic waste (biomass) while sorting the CO2 from flue gas and mainly storing it in a permanently stable form underground – sandstone, fossil-fuel depleted reservoir, or volcanic geological formations
- Ocean Fertilization: Addition of nutrients like iron, phosphorus, and nitrogen compounds to boost phytoplankton activities and growth (bloom) by capturing CO2 dissolved or underlying the seawater for its photosynthesis
- Ocean Alkalinization: CO2 in seawater as carbonate turns it acidic which requires interventions like adding alkalis or intervention of electrochemical reactions to remove the excessive CO2 in the ocean
- Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW): Specific minerals like silicates react naturally with CO2 carried by rain (weathering). Such a phenomenon enables the assimilation of CO2 by the rock. Hence, dispersing olivine rock powders into agricultural soils, for example, enhances CO2 sequestration
- Biochar: Thermochemical conversion of biomass as crop residues – lignocellulosic waste into a porous carbon soil amendment. Its stability avoids natural decaying and consequent carbon emissions such as CO2
- Improved Soil Biota: Techniques like vermicomposting, mycorrhizal fungi or even inoculation of bioengineered microorganisms into the soil enable it to sequester more carbon
- Woody Biomass Burial: Waste biomass that eventually would decay and emit more GHGs can be stored underground or in ocean anoxic basins with the addition of some procedures to secure its permanent inactivity and storage
- Reforestation/Afforestation and Endangered Ecosystems Conservation: Protection or application of intervention to save ecosystems from degradation and allow them to continue a perfect balance of matter – notably as carbon-based. Besides forests, it also includes conservation of considered mangroves, peatlands, coral reefs, and the like. These systems remove CO2 from the atmosphere, so we want to preserve them to mitigate climate change.
All the previous interventions and many others – blue carbon interventions and geochemical technologies based on natural solutions or artificially engineered to permanently sequester carbon are crucial to reducing greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere and oceans. [1][2][3]
Figure 1. Extracted from: “Negative emissions technology needed to remove CO2 and head off climate change”. Royal Society of Chemistry”. Source: © National Academy of Sciences.
Waste-to-X (fuels, energy, and bio-based materials)
When organic waste decays or is burned, the carbon in it returns to the atmosphere in the form of CO2. That can be avoided if we can recycle the waste and use it to foster a circular economy rather than extract more natural resources. It’s called “Waste-to-X” because the products that can be made are exponential like power/electricity, syngas, carbon black, biochar, bio-oils, etc.
Some technologies we highlight are hydrothermal, pyrolysis, and gasification systems, anaerobic digestion, and fermentative processes turning solid and liquid organic waste into valuable byproducts – syngas, biochar, bio-oils, etc.
Figure 2. Extracted from: Conversion of landfilled waste-to-electricity (WTE) for energy efficiency improvement in Shenzhen (China): A strategy to contribute to resource recovery of unused methane for generating renewable energy on-site. Science Direct.com Journal of Cleaner Production article. October 2022
Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU)
Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is a way to take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, ocean, or from industrial processes and use it to make other things. This can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create new carbon-based products.
The first stage of CCU is the process called sorption. This means that the CO2 is attracted to and sticks to another material, like a sponge. The second phase is the chemical reactions including captured CO2. Those reactions are enabled by the usage of efficient catalysts which accelerates the conversion of CO2 into other useful byproducts and reduce process costs.
Some of the products that can be made from CO2 include:
- Fuels: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, methane, ethanol, methanol
- Chemicals: plastics, fertilizers, solvents
- Materials: concrete (embed into its structure), carbon fiber, graphene
Green fuels and additives
Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels foster the circularity of CO2 in the atmosphere by capturing it and re-using it. Typically, there are technologies based on first and second-generation bio-digestion to produce renewable natural gas, while some others can produce first and second-generation bio-ethanol, Moreover, biodiesel obtained from the reaction of fatty acids or vegetal oils and alcohol (transesterification) [5]
Figure 4. Extracted from: Cross-sectoral perspectives. 2022. “Overview of opportunities related to selected land-based climate change mitigation options”. DOI:10.1017/9781009157926.005
The maritime sector has invested in green methanol and ammonia which can be obtained from captured CO2, and atmospheric nitrogen, respectively, and combined with clean hydrogen. [6]
Clean hydrogen is a key factor for the global decarbonization efforts and technology development and scale-up are crucial to meet industrial demand. It has been classified into color categories (green, blue, pink, turquoise, etc.) according to the energy input source, the release of CO2 or its sequestration, and the technologies or processes used in its generation.
The technologies used to generate clean hydrogen are as follows:
- water electrolysis, microbial electrolysis, biomass electrolysis, methane pyrolysis, biomass gasification, etc.
Figure 5. Extracted from: Eco-Business – Online magazine. An overview of how hydrogen is produced. Available at: https://www.eco-business.com/news/explainer-the-many-shades-of-hydrogen/
Moreover, the aviation industry has also invested in the decarbonization of its operations by bleeding sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to petrol-based derivatives commonly used:
- According to feedstock and energy input source, it is possible to obtain SAF through Biomass to liquid (BtL); Power to Liquid (PtL), and Solar to Liquid (StL). More specifically, the pathways can be listed as Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT – SPK), Hydroprocessed Easter and Fatty Acids (HEFA), Hydroprocessed Fermented Sugars to Synthetic Isoparafins, Alcohol-to-jet SPK, Fat, Oils and Greases (FOG) Co-Processing, etc. [7]
Figure 6. Extracted from: International Airport Review – Online Magazine. “Aer Lingus signs deal for SAF supply”. 2022. Credit: Aer Lingus
Other sustainable technologies and solutions:
- Biomaterials for construction: fungi, hemp, bamboo, etc.
- Green fertilizer: green ammonia, digestate, composting, and algae-based.
- Synthetic food: laboratory-grown meat, eggs, and milk
- Biodegradable packaging: bio-based material, carbonates, etc.
- Water, and wastewater efficient treatment systems and products
- Methane leakage and flaring and other GHG depletion
- Bioremediation interventions for contaminated soil
- Protein-rich food: algae (for enteric methane reduction), mushrooms, and other plant-based substitutes
- General recycling: plastics, metals, construction aggregates
- Smart grid: energy storage, electrification of the terrestrial fleet, expansion of solar, wind and wave-powered farms, and EV stations
- Sustainable power generation and efficient engines: Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, closed-loop reciprocating engine with no exhaust, chemical looping combustion engine, etc.
Country Teams across the globe
Army of Volunteers affiliates with environmental organizations in countries across the planet. We help them on their projects and, in turn, they help us promote the technology companies we’ve identified above in their countries. As we recruit more Country Teams, we will gain a global marketing capability for our technology companies.
ACCEC is in Uganda, and works with the Army of Volunteers to source used tires for a prospective tire recycling plant in Uganda.
We also help ACCEC develop their own sustainable projects, through fundraising efforts, presenting viable green technologies and developing business plans.
Go Green is a nonprofit in Malawi, with a mission to integrate the environmental concerns of all citizens into policies, plans, programs, and projects for economic and social development. Go Green campaigns for equal access to environmental resources and climate quality, with a focus to ensure that poor and marginalized communities, most dependent on environmental resources for their livelihood, receive equitable treatment.
AofV is working with Go Green on a project with Hago Energetics to convert the methane in biogas to hydrogen. Many farmers in Malawi collect the biogas from cow manure: selling the hydrogen could be in important source of income for them.
Join the Army of Volunteers to work on keeping harmful greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere and convert them into useful products for humanity. Work on issues such as:
- how can all gas emissions from farms and industries become part of the circular economy?
- how can we collaborate with emerging climate friendly technologies to sequester carbon?
- how can we engage people, industry and government to promote climate friendly practices and products?
A global army of dedicated volunteers can go a long way towards solving the climate crisis.
Bibliography
[1] Campbell et al., 2022. “Geochemical Negative Emissions Technologies: Part II. Roadmap”. Frontiers in Climate. Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.945332/full>
[2] .Küng et al., 2023. “A roadmap for achieving a scalable, safe, and low-cost direct air capture and storage”. Royal Society of Chemistry. DOI: 10.1039/d3ee01008b
[3] Boettcher et al., 2021. “Navigating Potential Hype and Opportunity in Governing Marine Carbon Removal”. Frontiers in Climate. Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.664456/full>
[4] Ozkan, Mihrimah and Custelcean, Radu., 2022. The status and prospects of materials for carbon capture technologies. Available at: <https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1883786>
[5] Green Chem., 2023, 25, 2930. DOI: 10.1039/d2gc02483g
[6] IRENA. A Pathway to Decarbonise the Shipping Sector by 2050. 2021. Full report available at: <https://www.irena.org/publications/2021/Oct/A-Pathway-to-Decarbonise-the-Shipping-Sector-by-2050>
[7] Airports Council International. ACI-ATI Integration of Sustainable Aviation Fuels into the Air Transport System. Available at: <https://store.aci.aero/product/aci-ati-integration-of-sustainable-aviation-fuels-into-the-air-transport-system/>
Visit other pages in this section to learn more about climate solutions:
- Global Work on Climate | Circular Economy | AofV Climate Strategy | Technologies AofV Supports
