Reversing Climate Change

Content Warning: this episode discusses suicide in literature, specifically Judas Iscariot from the Gospel and Javert from Les Misérables.
Why do this work? You could be doing so many different things. What calls you to it, and what (or who?!) is doing the calling?
In today's monologue show, host Ross Kenyon reflects upon the nature of vocation, aesthetics, and what it means to labor at something as hard as carbon dioxide removal, climate tech, and so many things adjacent.
After a first attempt years ago at J. R. R. Tolkien's short story, "Leaf by Niggle," Ross listened to a podcast about it that had been sitting on his phone for years. After revisiting the short story, he was again reminded that art often finds you when the time is ripe.
"Leaf by Niggle" is a deceptively deep story, which is unsurprising given how strongly Tolkien disliked allegory, and how mythologically dense Lord of the Rings is. In fact, Lord of the Rings has so much symbolic power that many parts of it defy an easy mapping to theology or mythology.
This show dives into some of what Ross has learned now that he's in the middle of my career about what kinds of work to do, how to accept unexpected work with grace, and why creativity might be so much weirder than we usually imagine.
This Episode's Sponsor
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠Rainbow: a developer-centric carbon removal registry ⁠
⁠"Why carbon markets need field engineers, not just scientists" on Rainbow⁠⁠
⁠⁠"What scientists actually do in carbon removal" on rosskenyon.com⁠
Resources
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Vocative case
"Leaf by Niggle" by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
C. S. Lewis
"222: Leaf by Niggle by Tolkien" from the podcast Classical Things You Should Know
The Lord of the Rings
Judas Iscariot
Javert
Les Misérables
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Are we going to figure out how to get along on a highly stressed planet? Or are we unable to break the patterns that have gotten us here in the first place? Are we too hard-nosed or too woo? A secret third thing?!
Today's show features Eugene Kirpichov, founder of Work on Climate, a very popular climate community built to help people transition into climate work. But the longer Eugene stared at the nested set of problems humanity is facing, it no longer seemed like a simple issue of employment and greenhouse gases. In fact, it's kind of everything.
Daniel Schmachtenberger's work on risk and game theory led Eugene to regenerative economics and an attempt to create a world where economic activity gives more than it takes, and where we aren't constantly lurching from one crisis to the next.
This Episode's Sponsor
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Rainbow: a developer-centric carbon removal registry
"Why carbon markets need field engineers, not just scientists" on Rainbow⁠
⁠"What scientists actually do in carbon removal" on rosskenyon.com
Resources
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠
Eugene's LinkedIn post which inspired the show
Daniel Schmachtenberger
Work on Climate
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows
"364: Lowering the Onion into Hell: Strategic Realism vs. Christian Pacifism" on Reversing Climate Change
"Peter Thiel and the Antichrist" by Ross Douthat at The New York Times

So many people think they need to dream up wild new tech to be successful at carbon removal. But one of CDR's most ascendent companies is relentlessly simple. They're so linear that I scrambled to make sure I wasn't missing something... In fact, if you've ever received coaching from me about simplicity, this is where I'm sending you from now on.
I recently completed Noah Deich and Dr. Jen Wilcox's UPenn continuing education course, CDR Executive Education Program/Purchasing Carbon Removal Credits. It was wonderful and I highly recommend it.
It did require a few homework assignments and a group project based upon a project developer. I chose Graphyte and their work putting waste biomass into bricks, wrapping them in polymer, and burying them underground. This is part of the class of projects called BiCRS (pronounced "bikers"), or Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage.
Today's show has Dr. Hannah Murnen, Graphyte's CTO, and Barclay Rogers, Graphyte's Co-Founder and CEO, on to correct my homework from the course. I've never had a show quite like this.
My sincere respect to each of them for digging into this with me and sharing their numbers. Not everyone in CDR is willing or able to do that, and I'm so happy we got to do that together.
This show also inspired me to make an episode about linearity vs. holistic thinking in CDR. If one focuses on carbon efficiency, Graphyte makes so much sense. But are we optimizing only for solving climate change, or is this a polycrisis that requires a much deeper and interconnected approach? What you choose may say just as much about your values and how you perceive the problem. Stay tuned...
This Episode's Sponsor
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Resources
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠
"381: Carbon Removal's False Peak as Mapped by Noah Deich"
S2E25: The DAC-up plan for climate change—w/ Dr. Jen Wilcox of Worcester Polytechnic Institute"
Graphyte
Graphyte's page on its registry, Isometric
The 2024 Project Design Document (PDD) for Graphyte's Loblolly project
UPenn's Purchasing Carbon Removal Credits course
CDR Executive Education Program
Carbon efficiency is how much of the carbon remains after the source material has been converted into a form of carbon removal, e.g. Graphyte loses very little carbon back to the atmosphere between waste biomass, processing, and burial. Biochar has a lower carbon efficiency because more carbon is released during pyrolysis. It isn't the only factor that matters, but has major repercussions for calculating net removals and which project types are suitable for which goals.
Polycrisis
I had to dig to figure out where I got the Nintendo insight from, but it originates from Richard Rumelt's Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters.

Are we thinking about biochar financial strategy all wrong? It's not often a good fit for venture capital, but is it actually a great fit for private equity? It might be, at least if you can get the ticket size big enough...
Today's guest is Alastair Collier, Chief R&D Officer at A Healthier Earth, a biochar project developer that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pure DC, a data center project developer, who is supported by Oaktree Capital Management, a private equity firm (which in my understanding, does several other things beyond private equity.)
Alastair explains how A Healthier Earth went down this road, why he's okay with giving up ownership of his company and accepting a management compensation plan rather than looking to a venture-backed exit, and why more biochar project developers should obsess over conventional business metrics rather than why biochar is going to save the world.
Whether one wants to chart the same course or not, it's important for all those who work in carbon removal to know what kinds of deals are possible in what may prove to be a challenging 2026.
Listen up, as Alastair has a lot of valuable advice to share in this one.
This Episode's Sponsor
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Resources
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠
A Healthier Earth
Pure DC
Oatkree Capital Management
Wholly-owned subsidiary (I said "fully" in the intro, which is a synonym but "wholly" is technically more correct)
Private equity
Eddington (the newest Ari Aster film that features some of the politics of building data centers, albeit less urban...)
Deus ex machina
"The Biochar Blueprint: A developers guide to scale"
Philip Lee LLP

Some decisions we don't expect to have big consequences. And yet, sometimes you wake up thirty years later in a world deeply altered by that little moment. Today's show is about when that happens in science.
Dr. Tyler Kukla is a Research Scientist at CarbonPlan, one of carbon removal's preeminent watchdog nonprofits. He returns to the show to explore how a conservative estimation of how much carbon returns to the atmosphere after agliming with carbonate rock (all of it) in the 1996 IPCC report has led us into a commercial carbon removal future that focuses almost entirely on silicate rock.
This isn't a story about whether silicates or carbonates are better for enhanced weathering (it really depends upon a number of geographic factors and design decisions around system boundaries and additionality), but about how some good faith placeholders can reify to such an extent that they do so much more than they were ever expected to.
This Episode's Sponsor
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Resources
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack⁠⁠⁠

Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
"Scaling enhanced weathering in limed fields" by Tyler Kukla
"Evidence for carbon sequestration by agricultural liming" by Dr. Stephen K. Hamilton, et al
"The contribution of agricultural lime to carbon dioxide emissions in the United States: dissolution, transport, and net emissions" by Drs. Tristam O. West & Allen C. McBride
"Contribution of agricultural liming to riverine bicarbonate export and CO2 sequestration in the Ohio River basin" by Drs. Neung-Hwan Oh & Peter A. Raymond
"Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security" by Dr. David J. Beerling, et al
Silicates
Carbonates
Agricultural lime (aglime)
Path dependence