CEO of Carbon Kapture heads to COP26
Howard Gunstock, co-founder of Carbon Kapture, the UK’s first kelp farm dedicated to permanent carbon sequestration, is headed for Glasgow. “The stakes at COP26 couldn’t be higher – it is the starting pistol for our generation’s true race against time. I will be standing shoulder to shoulder with 20,000 other delegates from almost 200 countries – our message is simple… keep 1.5 alive! We stand ready to work side-by-side with communities and governments around the world; but we start here, in the UK. We’re coming to Glasgow to tell the United Nations about the acres of forest off-shore.”
“We have just being awarded regional winner of British Chamber of Commerce Problem Solver of The Year award. There couldn’t be a more important problem to solve.”
Carbon Kapture is a Chamber of Commerce award winning start-up, which leverages the ocean to fight against climate change by using seaweed to sequester CO2 from the water and the atmosphere. Kelp can be used as a superpower to combat climate change, as it grows 30 times faster than trees, and is highly efficient at storing carbon. With over two-thirds of Earth covered by water, the ocean is at the forefront of climate discussions, with excess greenhouse emissions making our seas more acidic and less productive. The seaweed industry has a harvest of almost 300 thousand tonnes a year in Europe alone, and Carbon Kapture are planning to expand on that significantly. “We aren’t just removing CO2, we’ve created a business model that creates a circular economy; we sequester CO2 in seaweed to help our planet heal, and create other positive impacts by locking that CO2 away… forever.”
With COP26 currently underway, the team will be speaking at Glasgow on how they can support businesses in reducing their footprint and achieving net zero in the short to medium term, while they expand their suite of innovations and tools for long term emission reduction at source. The seaweed industry has a harvest of almost 300 thousand tonnes a year being harvested just in Europe, and they are planning to expand on that significantly.
The real power of Kelp is only just reaching the world’s consciousness. Not only can it sequester carbon for thousands of years, it can also be used as a replacement for fertiliser and as feed for animals, reducing the amount of methane gas expelled into the atmosphere. Additional uses include bioplastics, medicine, cosmetics and is also showing potential in the fight against dementia.
Carbon Kapture founders, Howard Gunstock and Dave Walker-Nix, are passionate about leading this carbon-capturing revolution with their team of ‘Kelpers’, who are equally as passionate to spread the word and get people involved. “Our first seaweed farms are in Ireland, and we are waiting for our licences to operate in Wales and other locations. Our vision is simple: ‘Carbon Negative, Climate Positive’”.