255. What If We Could Store Carbon the Way the Ocean Already Does? w/ Garrett Boudinot

Today, Matt is joined by Dr. Garrett Boudinot, founder and CEO of Vycarb, to talk about a new approach to carbon capture and storage that works with water instead of pipelines and underground wells. Garrett explains how Vycarb's reactor turns CO2 into bicarbonate and stores it safely in the ocean for tens of thousands of years. He shares why traditional carbon capture has been so expensive and hard to site, and how Vycarb bypasses the costly steps to target costs as low as $50 a ton. He also previews what's next as Vycarb scales from its Brooklyn Navy Yard pilot to full commercial projects. Check out Vycarb at vycarb.com Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. GUEST BIO Garrett Boudinot is the founder and CEO of Vycarb, a climate-tech company pioneering a water-based approach to carbon capture and storage. He earned a PhD studying global carbon cycling and its impacts on ocean and forest ecosystems, then led a carbon-management research program at Cornell University. As an inaugural Activate New York entrepreneurial fellow, he founded Vycarb to accelerate the ocean's natural carbon-storage process - and to measure it in real time. The company runs a pilot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that captures CO2 and permanently stores it in the East River, and is now scaling toward full commercial projects in the US and abroad.   CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: A Climate Change Welcomes Dr. Garrett Boudinot 0:57 From Existential Crisis to Founding Vycarb 4:13 How Vycarb Turns CO2 Into Permanent Bicarbonate 7:57 Faster Than Nature: The 200-Ton-a-Year Pilot 13:17 The Cost Curve: Getting Down to $50 a Ton 16:05 Stranded Emissions: Singapore, Japan & Europe 19:22 What's Next for Vycarb 21:47 How Vycarb Is Funded 25:29 Policy Incentives: 45Q, Carbon Taxes & First Movers 31:28 Measured Storage vs. "Hope It's Locked Up" 36:16 Why the East River: The Brooklyn Navy Yard Pilot 38:56 How Listeners Can Support Vycarb 40:24 Closing: Hope and Getting Your Hands Dirty 42:17 Outro   EPISODE RESOURCES Vycarb: vycarb.com A Climate Change on Apple: https://bit.ly/accapplepodcast A Climate Change on Spotify: https://bit.ly/accspotifypodcast A Climate Change on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ACCvids   MUSIC Theme: SMOOTA - "Save It! (The Mother Earth Boogie)"  Additional music: Stereo Reform - "Midnight Synthesizer (Instrumental)"