Carbon Removal Jobs Newsletter Issue #9

Pick of 10 Jobs, CDR community action and funding opportunities

Author

Olivia de Csillery
February 21, 2023

The Carbon Removal Jobs Newsletter

Hello! 

Spring has finally arrived! (Though it’s already been the hottest January on record). This newsletter won’t tell you about February’s hottest new opening, a World Bank chief with 'climate at heart', but you will find some fantastic new opportunities in the world of carbon removal. You can also read:

  • Our top job picks since our last edition

  • The biggest news stories from the industry

  • A great CDR project that needs highlighting

  • The best resources for job-seekers

Feedback? What works and what doesn’t in the newsletter? Is there anything you’d like to see next time? Any parts you skipped over? Please reply to this email!

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Now onto the good stuff...

10 awesome jobs in CDR 💼

In each edition, we pick out 10 of the 100+ jobs that are added to Carbon Removal Jobs between issues. Find all open roles on the site or catch every new role on our Twitter.

  • Sales Manager @ Myno Carbon

  • # of employees: 1-10

  • Location: West Coast - United States

  • Expertise desired: Agronomy, Soil Science, Science, Crop Science

  • Director of Ecology @ Vesta

  • # of employees: 11-50

  • Location: Remote - United States

  • Expertise desired: Marine Ecology, Aquaculture, Marine Ecotoxicology, Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Science

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Staying updated on carbontech 📰

The world of CDR is still nascent, and significant scalability challenges will need to be overcome in each of the main technologies if CDR is to meaningfully contribute to climate targets

Bezero’s report explores the scalability challenges for each of the main CDR technologies, which each have unique barriers to scaling and none of which are on track to scale on current trajectories without intervention. For example, energy is one of DAC’s largest barriers, BECCS has land as a key barrier, as does Biochar due to feedstock requirements. Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement has challenges with MRV readiness and Enhanced Weathering struggles with having sufficient policy support. Currently, Ocean Alkaline Enhancement has some of the largest barriers to scaling, whereas Biochar has some of the lowest barriers to scaling.

A working group of 35 organisations have issued a joint statement calling for the creation of an independent standards body to provide a trusted, scientific stamp of approval for carbon removal protocols

The working group, representing carbon removal buyers, suppliers, verifiers, non-profits and academics, recognises the need for a diverse set of scientific approaches to verification to take into account the wide range of CDR technologies in existence and development. They call for the creation of an independent, not-for-profit initiative which should be international, transparent and scientifically driven. They argue that this is a crucial step to allow this much needed industry to scale in line with climate objectives.

In a similar example of collaboration across the CDR industry, a group of carbon removal industry leaders have called on the UN backed Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) to affirm its support for the carbon removal technologies

The NZAOA, representing over $11trl of capital from institutional investors, released an update to its target setting Protocol on 31st Jan, which sets out pathways to reduce portfolio carbon emissions for major institutional investors. The update rightly focuses its targets on emissions abatement - however, it states that Alliance members should not use carbon removals for their own sub-portfolio or sector target achievement at this time or at any time before 2030. A group of carbon removal industry leaders (including Stripe, Climeworks, Carbon Business Council) have called on the NZAOA to affirm its support of the carbon removal technologies sector in the nearer term by publishing specific carbon removal targets for its members and investees.

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Giving CDR projects their flowers 💐

It’s clear that a large number of methods and a large mobilisation of resources will be needed to reach the scale of carbon removal needed to mitigate catastrophic climate situations. As BeZero’s report showed, the carbon removal industry is projected to scale up to 165 Gt of cumulative removal by 2050 - up from around 50kT today - one of the steepest innovation curves in the history of technological progress. In such a market, the scalability barriers highlighted by BeZero must be overcome, and crucially, funding opportunities must be made available to allow existing and new technologies to develop.

That is why we were excited to see a number of funding opportunities announced this month for carbon removal projects across the development lifecycle. At the cutting edge of CDR research, the 2023 OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge has been announced, aimed at students to create new processes, approaches and prototypes to remove carbon from the land, waters or air. The best approaches will be selected for an in person showcase at New York University in April 2023. The OpenAir Collective is a volunteer-led, community run network that aims to advance the world of CDR through collaborative advocacy and R&D missions. In a similarly innovative vein, the Carbon Technology Research Foundation (CTRF) has announced up to £4m in funding for novel carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods, supporting 4-7 research projects - the inaugural call for research proposals will take place on the 28th Feb. In terms of funding available for more established companies, climate non-profit Climate Vault has launched its first RFP of 2023, and is encouraging companies to apply for grants: it is set to fund 860k tons of CDR.

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Top resources for job-seekers

A running list of resources that we have found helpful for finding a career in carbon removal. Reply to this email if you have any further suggestions.

  • Airminers Community - Slack community of founders, scientists, investors working on mining carbon from the air.

  • Airminers Boot-up - Brilliant way to get learned on CDR. Join a cohort and form a reading group that takes you through the basics of the industry.

  • Work on Climate - Slack community dedicated to helping those find a job in climate (plus events and more)

  • Terra.do - App for all things work in climate related. Includes university style courses, networking opportunities and more.

  • Open Air Collective - Crack-team of activists working to advance the CDR industry. The best place to get involved in a carbon removal project today.

  • Carbon Curve substack - High quality, in-depth interviews and takes from the industry. Na’im also regularly shouts out job opportunities he finds.

  • Climatebase - A job board for the climate industry as a whole as well as offering a fellowship and other career-boosting services. Sometimes difficult to find carbon removal jobs.

  • Nori Podcast- Highlights the resources above and provides personal experience on pursuing a career in carbon removal.

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