Founded in 2022 by Felix Harteneck (CEO) & Niklas Kluger (COO), InPlanet is focused on developing “enhanced rock weathering” (ERW). What’s ERW? it occurs when rainwater (made slightly acidic by CO2 in the atmosphere) reacts with exposed silicate rocks on the planet’s surface. This turns the CO2 into bicarbonate, which gradually runs into waterways, where it is permanently sequestered as limestone. InPlanet exploits the fact that this natural process can be sped up by crushing rocks to reduce their surface size & spreading the ground-up minerals over large swaths of land. The idea is that by removing carbon from the atmosphere, ERW can regenerate soils & fertilize crops, allowing farmers to use less limestone, synthetic fertilizers & pesticides. InPlanet is studying ERW in Brazil, where the company believes tropical climate & soil will lead to faster results. There, InPlanet will also collaborate with local mines to source rocks, as evidence suggests the best ERW results come from using fine-grained mining residues, which are normally low or free of charge & close to the site of application, which reduces costs for ERW & solves a disposal challenge for miners. “In 2023, we plan to spread 50k tons of rock powder to remove 10k tons of CO2, allowing use to generate unique & scientifically valuable data”. ERW is a relatively underdeveloped tech, expected to cost $50-200 per ton of CO2 at scale, with the potential to remove 2-4 gigatons of CO2 per year (according to the State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report) <Source: EU Startups>
