To quote our friendly-neighborhood science educator Bill Nye the Science Guy, “Our planet is on fu**ing fire.” CO2 levels are the highest in history due to human activity, a 50% increase since the industrial revolution. 2020 was one of the hottest years on record, and extreme weather fluctuations are now common worldwide. The clock is ticking very quickly, and if we don’t make drastic decisions to curb the effects of climate change now, there won’t be an option to undo the damage in the future.
One low-hanging and cheapest solution is to plant more trees, but instead of adding new trees, the planet loses 25 million acres of forest each year to fire, agriculture, harvesting, and pests. There is also some resistance to planting more trees because when the leaves fall or parts of trees start decaying quickly, the CO2 absorbed by the trees goes back into the environment, the process also known as the fast carbon cycle.
So what do we need to start solving these problems?
Plant more trees to absorb more CO2 from the environment.
Grow trees that are resistant to fungus and bacteria so they live longer.
INTRODUCING LIVING CARBON
Living Carbon is a company developing genetically modified trees that absorbs 53% more CO2 from the environment to carry out the process of photosynthesis. The trees also have a metal accumulation trait to absorb more metals in their roots and stem, slowing wood decay, creating durable wood products, and retaining Carbon in the wood for extended periods.
Genetically modified trees are also unique in their ability to grow on degraded land with high concentrations of heavy metals and clean soil made toxic by industrial activity. This also creates an investment opportunity in an otherwise abandoned and barren land.
SHOOTING YOUR WAY TO CARBON NEUTRALITY
In photosynthesis, trees absorb sunlight, CO2, and water, use it as food to maximize their growth, and give out Oxygen and Sugars as the by-product. An enzyme called RuBisCO is the primary catalyst during photosynthesis. It acts as the acceptor of Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, but sometimes it malfunctions and takes Oxygen and gives out CO2, a process known as photorespiration.
Living Carbon alters the genes to minimize photorespiration and maximize CO2 intake during photosynthesis. In the process of alteration, DNA fragments are coated with gold particles; then by using a conveniently named device called a gene gun, you shoot these particles into the cell to introduce new traits like more CO2 absorbent and fungal resistance into the genome of the plant cell.
LITTLE BIG STEPS
In the last three years, Living Carbon has developed a hybrid poplar tree (quick-growing deciduous trees of populus genus such as aspen or cottonwood) that accumulates 30-50% more biomass than naturally present trees. The increase in biomass results in a ~27% increase in carbon capture. In addition, the trees have also seen a 97% survival rate in an abandoned mine land planting project and increased resilience to hot temperatures.
In January 2023, Living Carbon raised its Series A round, where investors like Temasek, Toyota Ventures, and Felicis Ventures joined Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon capital, their earliest backers. They are also on their way to producing 4-5M trees as part of their commercial planting project, and the demand for their carbon credits is also skyrocketing.
Living Carbon wants to plant 4M seedlings by spring next year. Their long-term goal is to constantly double the number of trees planted every year till 2030, to sequester ~604M tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of removing 1.66% of 2021 global emissions, the best part - this will only require less than 5% of reforestable land in the United States.
THE A TEAM
Maddie Hall (CEO & Co-Founder), a generalist with a strong product background, spent a considerable amount of her career at the institutions of excellence in the valley - First Round Capital, Y Combinator, OpenAI, and Sequoia Scout Program. She started Living Carbon with Patrick Mellor (CTO & Co-Founder) in 2019. Patrick is a botanist and a paleo-botanist, a branch of botany that deals with recovering and identifying plant remains. Together with the smartest and mission-driven scientists and researchers, Maddie and Patrick are out on a not-so-simple mission of making trees better.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Climate change is real, and forest fires, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and extreme temperatures are constant reminders of what is to come. In our fight against it, we need to decrease our carbon emissions, and the easiest and cheapest solution is planting more trees. Living Carbon is not only focused on planting more trees; it is planting better trees (Tree 2.0), which absorb more CO2, grow faster, even grow in barren lands, and a tree resistant to most fungus; hence, it lives longer.
Sustainable living is one tiny cog in the wheel in the fight against climate change, but at some point, we need a better strategy than not doing things that contribute to climate change. We need large-scale commercial solutions because first, we need to make up for the last 200 years of carbon emissions, and second, we also need fossil fuels to fuel our growth in the coming decades and centuries.
An innovative solution supported by science and technology is the only viable way to tackle such a complex problem. Maddie and Patrick, through Living Carbon, have proven that innovative and scientific solutions backed by technology exist and are possible and capable of getting the job done.
Further Reading
Photosynthesis Enhanced Trees Grow Faster and Capture More Carbon
A Tree-Shaped Bat Signal: Our Series A Round