Carbon Removal
Arbor
Using wasted plant material to produce carbon-negative energy
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Leadership Profile
How Rocket Technology is Delivering Earth-Positive Power
Brad Hartwig and the Arbor team developed the world’s most advanced rocket engines and power systems at companies like SpaceX and GE. Turning their sights to climate change, they found the same tech can generate clean electricity and simultaneously remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Power Plants Sans the Smokestack
The Climate Challenge
Per the IPCC, between 100-1000 billion tons (gigatons) of CO2 need to be removed by 2100. Current carbon removal solutions have affordability, storage duration, and scalability trade-offs.
Seeking a Solution
The Arbor team went back to the drawing board to design a hybrid solution that could achieve the necessary impact. They narrowed in on harnessing plant material’s natural stores of energy and CO2 and transforming bioenergy production.
Their technology turns biomass into electricity and locks the CO2 in deep geologic formations.
Cheap, Efficient, and Fast
Arbor builds with compact, modular designs and 3D printing, which reduces complexity, lowers costs, and accelerates deployment.
Brad explains, “A lot of bioenergy system costs come from installing equipment onsite. Using 90% prefabricated modules, we can get a highly efficient system that’s 90% smaller up and running in months instead of years.”
The Outcome
Arbor is positioned to meet the growing demand for clean electricity and carbon removal, with markets projected to reach $3.9 trillion by 2032 and $135 billion by 2040, respectively.
At total capacity, Arbor’s power plants could increase global electricity supply by 30% and remove ten gigatonnes of CO2 annually. Along the way, they incentivize wildfire mitigation and land conservation by offering a productive use for wasted plant material.
Meet Brad Hartwig
It’s about working on hard problems with good people and being able to tell your kids, if you choose to have kids, I worked on that. I was part of the solution. I helped save communities we love and protected wild places for future generations.