Climate after

Copenhagen

Graciela Chichilnisky
Columbia University
Unitarian Universalist UN Office
United Nations Headquarters
New York April 8 2010
 Copenhagen COP 15
• A Pivotal Event

• Began US participation in the Kyoto Process

• No binding agreement was reached in

Copenhagen creating consternation

But great progress

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 2

In Copenhagen -
December 2010
• I introduced NEGATIVE CARBON
wording into the Clean Development
Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol

• NEGATIVE CARBON is the ONLY way

Kyoto Protocol and its Clean
Development Mechanism can help
fund clean development in Africa,
Latin America and Small Island States

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 3

In Copenhagen -
December 2009
• I proposed a $200 bn/year Private/Public
Fund for 15 years
• A GREEN POWER FUND to build CLEAN
power plants in Africa, Latin America and
Small Island States – partly funded by
Kyoto
• My proposal - watered down - was offered
by Sec. Hillary Clinton in Copenhagen to
help mitigate risks of climate change in
poor nations

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 4

 Recent US
Progress
• 2007 US Supreme Court allows Presidential decision
to limit carbon emissions without Congress
• June 2009: House votes Markey-Waxman Bill cap
and trade bill – a mini version of Kyoto Protocol
• November 2009: EPA announces role under Clean
Air Act
• March 2010: EPA/DoT carbon limits – first time in US
history: 35.5 g/mile by 2016
• Next power plants, steel mills, and
2010: US CARBON CAPS

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 5

 US converges to Kyoto
Protocol
• Once US CARBON CAPS in place
Trading is just a matter of
efficiency
• The next step is CAP and TRADE
• A mini version of the Kyoto
Protocol (Waxman-Market Bill 09)

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 6

 The Carbon Market
• US is converging to the “carbon market” I
created in the UN Kyoto Protocol – Dec 1997
• Carbon Market is International Law since 2005
• Already trading a $125 bn/year - $50 CDM
• Creates a “carbon price” that changes the use of
energy all over the world
• Clean energy is more efficient and profitable
• Makes dirty energy inefficient and costly
Creates a new cleaner
economy

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 7

The Need for Carbon
Negative
Carbon Neutral is not
• Neutralizingenough
emissions will not
prevent further increases in
atmospheric CO2
• Even the most aggressive
efficiency improvements and
renewables adoption are unlikely
to keep CO2 concentration at the
generally agreed 450ppm
Carbon
necessaryNegative is the
to avoid catastrophic
solution
• climate risk
Air capture enables direct and
rapid reduction of CO2
concentrations
• It allows for the capture of even
more CO2 than we are loading AC technology directly
into the atmosphere or that the reduces carbon
earth’s systems can absorb concentration in the air,
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 8
making carbon negative
How to Implement the
Solution?
Air capture
technology
has the potential to make energy production
carbon negative

Addresses the climate change challenge in

the most effective, direct, and safe
manner

Accelerates the commercialization of

renewables and spurs global development

Can produce carbon-based assets, such as

algae-based biofuel, creating sustainable
Global Thermostat
revenue opportunities
Company Confidential Page 9
Unique Advantages of Air
Capture
Provides measurable advantages
over other forms of carbon
capture - stationery or otherwise
SAFER than Geo- enginering
Low-Cost P Carbon Negative
•Powered by low-cost, Solutions
widely-available process •Enables an energy or
heat industrial plant to capture
•Allows operating and even more CO2 than is
capital cost efficiencies emitted –providing a carbon
negative solution
Scalable Design Flexible Integration
•Modular designs can be •Legacy power plants, new
adapted for different sized fossil, nuclear, renewable
applications plants, industrial plants –
anywhere heat is available

Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 10

Air Capture Competes Well
with CCS
Air capture has considerable cost and
proprietary advantages over
conventional CCS including:
• Lower operating costs
• Lower capital costs
• Less disruptive–can be easily
retrofitted into existing plant
infrastructure
• Can be flexibly located with
access to low-temperature heat
source - avoids need for costly
pipelining or high
concentrations of CO2
• Moves beyond carbon neutral to
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 11
carbon negative
Air Capture vs. Other
Methods
Technology / method Upfront cost Ongoing
costs
Scalability Negative
externalities
Other

Global Thermostat Low Low Highly scalable; Minimal Could provide additional revenue to
flexible application accelerate the transition to
renewable energy

Clean coal* High Medium Limited to new Environmental Does nothing to offset CO2 from
power plants impact of coal non-coal sources
mining

Other point source capture* Medium High Limited to point Minimal Does not offset CO2 from mobile
sources sources; impurities in flue gas
degrade sorbent

Ocean iron fertilization Low Low Highly scalable Extreme: Alteration Does not address the root cause of
of key biological climate change
systems

Atmospheric seeding* Low Low Highly scalable Extreme: Potential Significant unknowns; does not
alteration of global address the root cause of climate
water cycle change; can be exploited by
individual nations to pursue their
own agendas

*Not carbon
negative
Global Thermostat has significant advantages in cost,
Global Thermostat scalability and risk
Company Confidential Page 12
Air Capture Solution
Three-Step Process Produces
Concentrated CO2 Stream
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Air Input CO2 CO2
Capture Regeneration
Key to
technology
is Transport & Compressio Other
Injection n Application
cogeneratio s
n using low
temperatur Subsequent steps are generally shared by all
e process CO2 capture methods
heat to
capture
CO2
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 13
Three-Step Process
Overview
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Air Input CO2 CO2
Capture Regeneration
• Efficiently moves • Carbon binds to • Carbon-rich sorbent
large quantities of sorbent is heated with low-
air to overcome low • DOE Sorbents temperature
concentration of proven effective by process heat (100
CO2 DOE and Georgia C)
• The air stream is Tech • Carbon is flushed
exposed to an • Immobilized away – or
amine-based amines on porous regenerated – to be
sorbent designed substrate reduce stored or used in
to be spread over heat requirements multiple
an appropriate compared to liquid commercial
surfaceAir Capture technology
area systems utilizesapplications
proven
technical components with most equipment
Global Thermostat
off-the-shelf
Company Confidential Page 14
Applications & Markets for
Captured CO2

*EOR and Algae-

based biofuels
represent most
significant
opportunities for
commercial
applications of CO2
captured using
GT’s technology
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 15
Enhanced Oil Recovery in
the U.S.
The potential U.S.
market for CO2 EOR
is ~20 billion metric
tons of CO2, a market
size of $800 billion
GT’s air capture technology is an economical CO2
source which can be flexibly located to reduce
pipelining costs – often a considerable
barrier for EOR
According to the U.S. Department of Energy:
• Significant volumes of oil remaining in known U.S. oil fields
could be produced by injection of CO2
• 2005 oil production from CO2 EOR was approximately 86
billion barrels
• A total of 1,673 fields identified as candidates for CO2 EOR
accounting
Global Thermostat for 146 billion barrels
Company Confidential Page 16
Algae-Based Biofuels)
Algae Growth : Sunlight + CO2
+ Water
The natural process of photosynthesis
•As algae grows, they accumulate fats and
bio-oils, similar in structure to traditional
crude oil,.
•As algae are harvested, oils are extracted
and used to create fuel products
•Closes the carbon Cycle
CO2 captured •Producing carbon negative
can enhance biofuels
algae •Does not compete with food
production by •Using waste water produces
5X drinkable water

“Advanced biofuels are critical to building a cleaner, more

sustainable transportation system in the U.S..” Energy Secretary
Steven Chu, December 2009
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 17
 Project Development with Algae
Fully-integrated biorefinery

•Produces carbon negative transportation fuels

(diesel, jet, etc)
•Treats municipal wastewater and produces
drinking water
CO
•Generates
2
green
Algae electricity and biochar
Fuel fertilizers
Fuels,
Solar Dewateri Electricit
Productio Productio
Ener ng y&
n n
gy Biochar
Wast
ewat Treated Drinkin
er Desalinati
Wastewa g
on
ter Water

This unique combination of technologies provides critical

municipal services while producing energy in an embodiment
that is
Global Thermostat Company Confidential Page 18
 Air Capture in the News
 "Increasingly it looks like air capture will be needed. Efforts to limit CO2
emissions will need to be strengthened massively if they are to keep
concentrations from reaching dangerous levels, so there may be little choice
but to remove some of the CO2 already in the air or cool the planet in other
ways.   -Nicola Jones, Nature News, April 30, 2009

"One possibility, Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. of the Univ. of Colorado says, would be to
remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the future. He calculates that it
could cost about the same, in the long run, as making drastic cuts in emissions
today, and could be cheaper if the technology improves. It could also be a lot
easier sell to the public." -John Tierney, New York Times, February 24, 2009

"Most importantly, air capture embodies the essential cause–effect relations -

the basic go - of the climate change problem, by acting directly to reduce CO2
concentrations, independent of the complexities of the global energy system.“
-Daniel Sarewitz and Richard Nelson, Nature, December 25, 2008

"[Eisenberger and Chichilnisky] estimate that they could remove about five
pounds of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. (A coal plant
emits about two pounds when it makes that much electricity.)  'If you want to
solve the global warming problem, you can’t do that by staying even,' Dr.
Eisenberger said.“   -Matthew L. Company
Global Thermostat Wald, New York Times, March 26,
Confidential 2008
March 2010, Page 19
 Graciela Chichilnisky
Director, Columbia Consortium for
Risk Management
Professor of Economics and
Statistics
Columbia University, New York
(212) 678-1148
Email: chichilnisky1@gmail.com
Website: www.chichilnisky.com

Global Thermostat Company Confidential March 2010, Page 20