Irish billionaires Patrick and John Collison from Stripe are investing in new carbon capture and other technology to mitigate the climate crisis.
The tech billionaire brothers and co-founders of the global electronic payments company Stripe have established their own Stripe Climate fund to direct funds from their firm to start-ups that are dedicated to addressing climate change.
For example, some of the new companies funded via Stripe Climate, as stated in an article by Independent.ie, include Running Tide, Heirloom and Charm, some of which we have recently covered, as seen here and here.
Running Tide focuses on the natural carbon capture abilities of shellfish and kelp and is working on scaling and accelerating them to sequester CO2 and store it deep in the ocean indefinitely.
Relevant: Charm Marks A Carbon Removal Milestone – 5,000 Tons Of CO2 Equivalent Delivered
Heirloom, another firm backed by the Collison brothers, has a different approach to capturing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere that involves heating carbon-rich rock.
The emitted carbon is extracted and trapped underground, whereas the remaining rock is crushed so it can pull more carbon dioxide from the air.
The main struggle for start-up technologies is the high costs they face, many falling in the range between $250 and $2,000 per metric ton of CO2. In comparison, many conventional carbon offset projects today bring that cost down to under $50 per ton.
Relevant: New Carbon Capture Technology Can Remove 1 Gigaton Of CO2 By 2035 For $50 A Ton
But as Nan Ransohoff, head of Stripe Climate, stated at the COP26 conference, the fund does not mind the expensive price tag today as long as there is a ‘glide path towards cost reduction’.
But it isn’t just Stripe’s funds that are used to support these projects. In fact, the company allows businesses using the payment system to offer their customers the option to donate to such projects when making purchases.
And it’s over 10,000 businesses that are already on board.
