There’s so much money in carbon removal these days that even money itself could get in the game by becoming part of the new wave of green materials science.
After all, there’s still plenty of physical currency. And The US Department of Energy has invested a lot into artificial photosynthesis R&D:
That’s right — much to my surprise, I’m encouraging a revival of hard currency as carbon removal future tech.
Picture a DOE collaboration with the US Treasury to Mint some extra green cash.
Talk about money you’d think twice about spending. Yet — the more it circulates, the more positive the environmental effect.
Okay, it’s funny. Can it actually be done?
Given the current climate of accelerated tech and materials innovation, I think that’s a YES.
The dollars would be engineered like synthetic leaves. Given there’s a DOE Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), I don’t think That’s too far fetched.
Furthermore, other currency mainstays like credit cards could house solar cells to become chargers for example.
That would perhaps be a case for MIT.nano’s new super lightweight perovskite solar cells:
https://news.mit.edu/2022/ai-perovskite-solar-manufacturing-0413
It’s an exciting green market out there and the possibilities are endless.
Let’s not forget though that plants and trees are already great at photosynthesis. Planting and encouraging growth of natural vegetation is natural natural carbon removal that everyone can participate in.
It’s also an interesting point that the material of coins as they are elementally, are valuable as natural resources.
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