from industrial processes and turns it into speciality chemicals. LanzaTech, which has a commercial-scale partnership with ArcelorMittal, a European steel giant, and several Chinese industrial firms, builds bioreactors that convert industrial carbon emissions into useful materials. Some make their way into portable carbon stores, such as Lululemon yoga pants.
The emerging view among technologists, investors and buyers is that carbon capture will develop in the way that waste management did decades ago—as an initially costly but necessary endeavour that needs public support to get off the ground but can in time become profitable. That view is increasingly also held by policymakers.
Carbon middlemen are emerging to connect projects and buyers. NextGen, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate, and South Pole, a Swiss developer of carbon-removal and -management projects, intends to acquire over 1m tonnes in certified carbon-removal credits by 2025, and has lined up big buyers. It has just announced the purchase of nearly 200,000 tonnes’ worth of carbon credits from 1PointFive and two other ventures.