How to give carbon capture credits this holiday season

Carbon capture isn't just for giant corporations hoping to offset their environmental impact. You can give the gift of captured CO₂ and do a solid for the planet while getting a guaranteed conversation starter for your friends and family. 

The leader in the space is Swiss company Climeworks, which operates a carbon capture plant and actually performs the process of CO₂ removal and underground storage based on your purchase. 

Read on for instructions on giving carbon capture credits, plus other great environmentally friendly gift ideas this holiday season.

First thing's first, what exactly are we talking about here? 

Carbon capture is such a mainstay of media coverage and corporate talking points that it can be easy to lose track of what exactly the technology is, and why it's being deployed as a tool in the climate change fight.

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves the removal of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions that are created in many industrial processes and from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation and transportation. This captured carbon is moved via pipeline and stored in geological formations underground.

Does that sound like a scheme hatched by some James Bond villain? It does, right?

Except, in a world that still decidedly runs on the burning of fossil fuels, CCS has proved quite effective at mitigating some of the demonstrated detrimental impact. Scrubbing carbon dioxide from the flue gas of industrial plants reduces life-cycle emissions by 55 to 90%. The technology has been in use since the early 1970s, and there are currently more than 40 industrial carbon capture and storage plants around the world, capturing 30 million tons of CO₂ annually.

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Swiss company Climeworks operates one of these plants. You may have heard of them from their first generation business model, which involved reselling CO₂ to soda companies like Coca-Cola. The company has shifted its operations to underground storage, which is essentially a move to scale the impact of its CCS operations.

This year Climeworks raised $650 million USD to support its operations. Part of its business model? Selling carbon capture to conscientious private consumers, including as giftable credits.

How to give carbon capture credits this holiday season

FAQ

Is carbon capture a viable solution? 

There is compelling criticism of carbon capture, which is that it actually enables industries to ramp up carbon emissions while still hitting emissions targets. Ultimately, even many supporters of carbon capture don't tout it as a solution, but rather a mitigation technology (and a fairly complicated one to boot) to help redress some of the damage caused by carbon burning industries. How efficiently does it do that? It's actually pretty impressive. Here's a great rundown from MIT you might want to check out.

Are these gifts tax deductible?

A Climeworks gift card is not tax deductible, as Climeworks isn't a qualifying nonprofit organization. However, if you donate to one of the nonprofit organizations listed in the alternatives section above, your donation is likely tax deductible for those who itemize deductions on their tax return.

Are there any tools to calculate your carbon footprint?  

Yup, there are many out there, including ones from Climeworks. The biggest polluters by far remain fossil fuel-burning industries, but you might be surprised how much of an impact individuals have.