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How 2 companies are taking different approaches to carbon capture as climate reports show rising temperatures
Recent climate reports have shown alarming trends as 2023 was confirmed as the hottest year on record and rising temperatures led to the loss of 1 million square kilometers of arctic ice in the last year.
As the Biden administration is committing nearly $4 billion toward jumpstarting a new carbon capture industry in the U.S., CBS News was given an inside look at two companies taking different approaches to process.
Graphyte is a startup that takes leftover material from timber and rice mills and turns it into bricks to be wrapped up and buried in the ground — for now, in a field in central Arkansas.
“We’re taking the carbon captured by plants and keeping it out of the atmosphere for a thousand years or more,” said Graphyte CEO Barclay Rogers.
Graphyte plans to turn an empty warehouse into the world’s largest carbon removal facility, eventually removing 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year — about the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the road. American Airlines is currently paying Graphyte to offset some of the pollution from its flights.
To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, scientists say we need to stop burning fossil fuels and switch to cleaner forms of energy. But, they say, billions of tons of carbon that have already been put into the atmosphere also need to be removed.
Heirloom Carbon recently opened the nation’s first commercial direct air capture plant in Central California. The automated facility stacks trays of limestone 40 feet high, allowing the rock to suck carbon dioxide from the air like a sponge. The stone can do in days what nature would normally take months to accomplish.
Heirloom Carbon said its pilot plant removes just 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, but it plans to build facilities that capture 1,000 times more.
While carbon capture is often criticized for its cost, with opponents saying the money would be better spent on pursuing renewable energy sources, Heirloom Carbon CEO Shashank Samala says it’s an essential part of the climate change solution.
“We need to start turning back the clock on climate change/what carbon removal offers us is the closest thing to a time machine,” he said.
CBS News
Floods, landslides struck parts of Bosnia as residents slept, leaving at least 16 dead and several missing
A severe rainstorm struck Bosnia overnight Friday, killing at least 16 people in floods and landslides in several towns and villages in central and southern parts of the country, with surging waters rushing into people’s homes as they were sleeping.
Rescue services in the south said several people were missing and called on volunteers and the army to assist as roads were closed and houses left without electricity.
Josip Kalem, a resident of Fojnica, one of the towns hit by the floods, said his dog’s barking woke him up at around 4 a.m. When he came out on the terrace, he saw the water rising rapidly.
“I came down, woke up my wife, and we looked around, we could not get out of the house. We saw more and more water coming in,” he said. “All of a sudden, the water was flooding the garage, basement, my car — everything. The water swept it all away, including my dog. Flood took it downstream.”
Andja Milesic, another resident of Fojnica, also said she was caught by surprise in the middle of the night.
“When I woke up, my bedroom floor was already soaked. I walked into the hallway — water was everywhere — the living room, everywhere,” she said. “It was horrible.”
Armin Durgut / AP
Darko Juka, a spokesman for the local administration, said at least 14 people had died in and around the southern town of Jablanica. Officials later said two more bodies have been found.
“Those are the ones who have been discovered by rescuers,” he said. “We still don’t know the final death toll.”
“I don’t remember such a crisis since the war,” Juka said referring to the 1992-95 war in Bosnia that left the country in ruins. “The scale of this chaotic situation is harrowing.”
Defense Minister Zukan Helez told N1 regional television that troops have been engaged to help and that the casualties were reported.
Helez said that “hour after hour we are receiving news about new victims. … Our first priority is to save the people who are alive and buried in houses where the landslides are.”
A pregnant woman lost her baby after she was rescued from the floods and transferred to a hospital in the regional center of Mostar. Authorities said doctors were fighting for her life as well. Separately, a child was successfully rescued and hospitalized, local officials said.
Rescue services in the towns of Jablanica and Kiseljak said the power was off overnight and mobile phones lost their signal.
The Jablanica fire station said that the town was completely inaccessible because roads and trainlines were closed.
“The police informed us that the railroad is also blocked,” the state rescue service said in a statement. “You can’t get in or out of Jablanica at the moment. Landline phones are working, but mobile phones have no signal.”
It urged people not to venture out on the flooded streets.
Human-caused climate change increases the intensity of rainfall because warm air holds more moisture. This summer, the Balkans were also hit by long-lasting record temperatures, causing a drought. Scientists said the dried-out land has hampered the absorption of floodwaters.
Armin Durgut / AP
Drone footage broadcast on Bosnian media showed villages and towns completely submerged under water, while videos on social networks showed dramatic scenes of muddy torrents and damaged roads.
One of the busiest roads linking Sarajevo with the Adriatic coast via Jablanica was swept into a river, together with a railway line in a huge landslide, according to photos.
“Many people are endangered because of big waters and landslides. There is information about victims and many injured and missing persons,” said the civic protection service.
Authorities urged people to stay on the upper floors of their homes. Reports said surging waters swept away domestic animals and cars as the water swiftly filled up lower floors of buildings.
The heavy rains and strong winds were also reported in neighboring Croatia, where several roads were closed and the capital of Zagreb prepared for the swollen Sava River to burst its banks.
Heavy winds have hampered traffic along the southern coast of the Adriatic Sea, and flash floods caused by heavy rain threatened several towns and villages in Croatia.
Floods caused by torrential rains were also reported in Montenegro, south of Bosnia, where some villages were cut off and roads and homes flooded.
In 2014, floodwaters triggered more than 3,000 landslides across the Balkans, laying waste to entire towns and villages and disturbing land mines leftover from the region’s 1990s war, along with warning signs that marked the unexploded weapons.
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