Carbon capture and storage (CCS): Great opportunity or money pit?

In a single “market scan” last Friday morning, I saw the following:

The Only Carbon Capture Coal Plant in the U.S. Just Closed (Gizmodo) — NRG’s Petra Nova plant shuts down after three years successfully capturing and storage CO2 emissions.
ExxonMobil Focuses New Biz on Carbon Capture and Storage, Plans $3B Investment (Environment + Energy Leader) — They plan to advance 20 CCS projects around the world and invest this dry powder by 2025, all while losing $20B in Q4 2020.
Air Miners — This expert community for carbontech entrepreneurs notes: “Carbon removal is a trillion-dollar opportunity disguised as an existential crisis.” And they profile dozens of these startups here that could make this economic buffet a reality.

Since every major climate model says we need CCS to hit the 1.5 degree target, we have to get this sh*t right going forward.

Perhaps the next best thing to do is spend more time getting cozy with the Air Miners’ “101 Guide on Air Mining.”

Or maybe the answer comes from a single letter — “U.”

If CCS becomes CCUS, and we focus on how to upcycle carbon and create new revenue streams from this waste product, then maybe we’ll get on the right track.

Think Climate Tech is hype? Then read this.

Part 1.

In “We Have Entered the Climate Decade,” Andrew Beebe from Obvious Ventures makes the case that we’re just getting started in the long boom of climate tech.

With 120+ hyperlinks to headlines, people, and companies making this happen, he lays out five reasons why this time is different — and should be more financially successful — than cleantech version 1.0.

Part 2.

For a more somber reflection, check out “We’re Already In The Second Cleantech Bubble,” by Rob Day of Spring Lane Capital.

Although if we removed the Himalayan valuations of some recent SPAC transactions, maybe the two articles would show more alignment.

As Jason Holt of Baruch Future Ventures notes, some SPAC-enticed investors are “overpaying 2X on a [VC-stage] company now” with hopes of “going public at something like 10X in 1-2 years.” There’s more here on how to avoid the next “cleantech nuclear winter.”

Hilarious Will Ferrell commercial about electric vehicles.

Trust me. Just watch it. Here’s the link.

Shout out to GM and their announcement to build only EVs starting in 2035.

And God Bless Norway.

Quote to ponder.

“The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be.”

- James Clear

What determines the priorities in your day — systems and calendar blocking, or day-to-day choices and “inspiration”?

Are you largely proactive or reactive?

Who determines how you spend your time — your inbox, your smartphone, or the unrushed you, thinking clearly after building up grey matter in your brain through daily meditation?

A 1-page business plan: The Lean Canvas

If you’ve ever worked months to create a [50]-page business plan, then you appreciate the mental pain and irrational attachment that is associated with this Cretaceous process.

Drawing on lessons from the Business Model Canvas, the Lean Canvas is purpose-built for entrepreneurs who know their business models will shift frequently.

It also provides guidance on the sequence for how the Lean Canvas should be completed, which recognizes what’s most important (see image here) — that is, the Problem and Customer Segment come first, not the Solution. (“But my new tech is so shiny. There’s nothing like it in the whole world, yo.”)

Creating a Lean Canvas can also help more established ventures reassess what they’re doing, or get fresh insights by having team members from different departments and rank create their own versions of the Canvas for the business. (I promise that they all won’t look alike.)

To experiment, here’s more:

Need a catharsis for 2020? Here’s a must watch dark comedy.

Grab a beverage tonight and watch this Netflix mockumentary — Death to 2020.

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow, and others, laughing through the chaos and gloom will be like finally letting out that enormous sneeze you’ve been waiting for all over last year.

That’s all, y’all.

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Keep on fightin’ the good fight.

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. — Here’s where the name “ZERO” comes from.

P.S.S. — At Entrepreneurs for Impact, we run a private, invite-only Executive Roundtable for climate CEOs and investors. Collectively catalyzing over $800M of value in low carbon sectors, it’s a hell of a group. If you want to learn more, check us out here.

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Dr. Chris Wedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact
Executive Roundtables for Climate CEOs and Investors
(919) 274-7988

ZERO #14 (climate finance + startups)

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