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This startup uses volcanic rock dust to suck carbon dioxide out of the air

Lithos Carbon’s carbon sequestration is a winner in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards.

This startup uses volcanic rock dust to suck carbon dioxide out of the air

[Photos: Lithos Carbon]

BY Talib Visram1 minute read

Lithos Carbon is one of the winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. Explore the full list of projects we’re honoring for making the world more equitable, accessible, and sustainable.

To combat rising temperatures, we not only need to reduce carbon emissions but also remove billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere. A variety of enterprises are focusing on removing carbon from the air, but many of their approaches employ expensive technologies and will take years to have any meaningful effect.

Startup Lithos Carbon, however, is focusing on the land, and a natural tool: basalt, a black igneous rock that’s common on volcanically active islands like Hawaii and Iceland. Lithos recycles existing basalt dust—a quarrying by-product—and spreads it over crop land. When rainwater mixes with the basalt dust, it triggers a chemical reaction that captures and locks up CO2 as bicarbonate.

[Photos: Lithos Carbon]

The bicarbonate then flows into rivers and the open ocean, where it nourishes coral reefs and the shells of crabs, oysters, and other organisms. When those creatures die, the carbon is permanently sequestered as rock on the ocean floor. “We’re sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it permanently for 10,000 to 100,000 years,” says Mary Yap, Lithos Carbon’s cofounder and CEO.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in London, Talib Visram is a Staff Writer at Fast Company in New York, where his digital and print reporting focuses on the social impact of business. A Master’s-trained multimedia journalist, he’s hosted a variety of audio and video programs, and moderated live events More


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