Converting CO2 To Energy – Bjork Kristjansdottir, Carbon Recycling International
Release Date: 11/19/2024
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Our core business is harvesting and collecting the by-product from coal combustion plants historically, called fly ash. We introduce it into supplementary cementitious materials to create a Portland cement replacement. We are pushing for 20% and even 30% [replacement of traditional cement] and hopefully reaching 100% one day with our technologies that are still in development.” Marci Jenks on Electric Ladies Podcast We need infrastructure that’s safe, strong, durable and climate resilient. To build our cities, roads, bridges and more, 30 billion tonnes of concrete is poured around the...
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“Change is a constant. This is the world that we live in. And so how do you decide what needs to change and transform? The best leaders have certain traits about them when it comes to leading an organisation through change. Great leaders have an ability to communicate and inspire and they never get tired of doing it. Or if they get tired, they keep doing it anyway because constant communication is essential when you're going through change.” Deborah Lee James on Electric Ladies podcast (previously Green Connections Radio) Many companies are scaling back their climate,...
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“How do we get people in the tent to even hear the story? With ‘Living with Ed’ and other projects, we were a family they could identify with. We were yelling, laughing, loving each other while talking about real issues. I represented the average person’s perspective on issues like taking the subway. There’s the funny, and there’s the conflict. If it’s not entertaining, it’s not going to connect.” Rachelle Begley on Electric Ladies Podcast Culture wars around climate change do more harm than good. As climate-driven extreme weather events become more frequent,...
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“We did lots of infrastructure investments over the last handful of years to make sure our communities are in the best possible place they can be. And we complemented federal investment with workforce investment to ensure Michiganders are getting access to those kinds of roles, some of which didn't even exist previously. [This ensures] that Michigan communities could benefit from learning to be solar installers and get access to new economic income streams.” Hilary Doe on Electric Ladies Podcast The Justice Department is suing Michigan over its climate initiatives under the Clean Air...
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“I've been particularly passionate about working with women in those communities to teach them about new techniques so they can understand how to run their farm more effectively, but also understand their rights as women in those communities so they have a stronger voice…. And because they were called an ‘ambassador,’ their status in the village rose.” Alison Ward on Electric Ladies Podcast Have you ever wondered where your shirt really comes from, or where the cotton in your jeans was grown? While the tag might tell you where they were made, it won't tell you where the cotton...
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“Talking to people from different disciplines pushes your thinking about your assumptions, going out and listening to what other people are doing helps inform the way that you creatively solve the problem that's in front of you. Leaders often are scared by some of these ideas that are coming out of their workforce and that's why they're shutting them down. But if you can demonstrate yourself to be receptive to ideas, then you can help guide a creative future.” Telle Whitney on Electric Ladies Podcast Massive innovation is crucial to meet the scale of the climate crisis, but achieving...
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“We've worked with partners like AcelorMittal… and oil and gas refineries. Emissions that would've been destined for the atmosphere are piped into our bioreactor and our magnificent microbes turn that gas into ethanol. When we pull out that ethanol, we can send it a lot of different places. You can go to On, Adidas, Athleta and buy products made by these mighty microbes from steel mill emissions. We actually flew a Virgin Atlantic flight from Orlando to London with 50 percent of the fuel in that plane made from our ethanol.” Zara Summers on Electric Ladies Podcast Addressing...
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“One of the big differences between Canada and the United States on climate policy spending broadly is that unlike the United States, Canada has a national carbon pricing system. So, we have a carbon pricing system that sets a national minimum standard…. Without strategy, coordination, investment, we will be putting ourselves at a painful disadvantage in terms of not just the energy transition, but just geopolitically.” Claire Seaborn on Electric Ladies Podcast An independent analysis found that the renewable energy strategies in New York state may help insulate New...
info_outline“Carbon Recycling International was founded around the idea of taking something which was waste, like CO2 and turning it into some valuable product…(Today they are) converting CO2 into sustainable methanol…(W)e have technology, which takes CO2 as a waste, and it takes hydrogen and turns it into methanol…and it is used today both like into chemicals. So, the chemical sector is a big consumer of methanol, which is a very large known product in the world today. …(and into) a sustainable fuel...playing a pretty big role in the energy transition.” Bjork Kristjansdottir on Electric Ladies Podcast
One of the creative technologies developed today to both address the climate crisis and accelerate the energy transition is carbon recycling. What is it? Essentially, it’s converting CO2 into energy or chemicals.
Listen to Bjork Kristjansdottir, COO/CFO of Carbon Recycling International in Iceland explain how it works and how it’s used in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson.
You’ll hear about:
- How they “recycle carbon” – from capture to converting it to how it’s used.
- How the chemicals made from carbon recycling are used.
- Why methanol is so important in the energy transition and how they make it
- How they are making sustainable aviation fuel from carbon recycling
- Plus, insightful career advice, such as…
“My advice is first, like it's around decisions. So, we need to make decisions. Postponing making decisions puts you at the risk things will just happen to you.…And remember that, when we do make those decision in our career, it is always based on the best information available at the time. Things may change, it doesn't make it a wrong decision.. (and) You don't need to learn and be the best at everything yourself. What you need to do is to learn how to listen and harvest all of the potential, all of the talent around you… get comfortable with asking the right questions.” Bjork Kristjansdottir on Electric Ladies Podcast
Read Joan’s Forbes articles here too.
You'll also like:
- Inna Braverman, Founder/CEO of Eco Wave Power, on how wave power works and her powerful personal story that reflects today’s geopolitical dynamics.
- Lisa Jacobson (BCSE) & Tara Narayanan (BNEF), on their 2024 Energy Factbook, by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Bloomberg New Energy Finance
- Melissa Lott, Ph.D., Director of Research at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and the lead scientists in the PBS/NOVA documentary “Chasing Carbon Zero.”
- Vanessa Chan, Ph.D., Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, on the Inflation Reduction Act and the transition to clean energy.
- Paula Glover, President, The Alliance to Save Energy, focused on energy efficiency
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