Nature-Based Climate Change Technology Hits Key Milestone In Demonstrating Gigaton-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal

SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EARTH DAY -- Project Vesta, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the climate crisis, today announced its first site for testing its innovative carbon dioxide reduction method. Project Vesta uses a process called 'coastal enhanced weathering', which makes green-sand beaches out of olivine, the mineral in the gemstone peridot. Wave action grinds down the sand, removing harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ultimately converting it into rock. The selected Caribbean site consists of two coves: a test cove, where Project Vesta will deploy its enhanced weathering process, and a nearby control cove.

"Reducing emissions is not enough to solve the climate crisis," stated Project Vesta cofounder, Eric Matzner. "We need a solution that removes gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions a year and we need it now. Once we prove our approach through pilot studies, we can implement at scale through an open-source platform."

Nature already has a way of capturing carbon dioxide by weathering volcanic minerals. Project Vesta's approach dramatically accelerates this. The green-sand beaches use an abundant mineral, olivine, where wave action speeds up the carbon dioxide capture process while de-acidifying the ocean. Thirty years of scientific research has demonstrated that this works and provided strong evidence that it is a highly affordable and scalable solution. The process captures 20 times more carbon dioxide than the extraction and transportation of the olivine, and if deployed on just two percent of global shelf seas, could capture 100 percent of annual human emissions.

"The current pandemic is a grave reminder of how interconnected we all are. It shows us that solidarity and intergenerational cooperation can be mobilized to face a crisis. While the world's attention, rightly, is on the pandemic, we must also come together to face the deeper, longer-term crisis looming over the horizon: climate change," added Tom Green of Project Vesta.

Today's announcement, made on the non-profit's first anniversary, marks a significant milestone towards the organization's vision of solving climate change. Project Vesta, a 501(c)(3), is raising $1,500,000 in donations to fund this pilot. Donations can be made at www.ProjectVesta.org/donate and may be tax-deductible.

Project Vesta will be holding an online Press Conference to discuss its approach to carbon removal at 12pm PT / 3pm ET today, 4/22. The team will take questions. Register here.

About Project Vesta

Founded on Earth Day 2019, Project Vesta is a non-profit organization whose mission is to turn the tide on climate change. Project Vesta exists to further the science and viability of enhanced coastal weathering. This involves making green-sand beaches, which capture carbon dioxide using natural wave action. It works by accelerating the existing natural process of rock weathering. This is a process which has slowly captured carbon dioxide on earth for billions of years as part of the long-term carbonate silicate cycle. The Project Vesta approach to carbon capture is cheap, carbon-efficient, scalable and permanent.

Contacts
Learn more at www.ProjectVesta.org
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SOURCE Project Vesta