Carbon180 is a nonprofit group that helps the environment and is based in Washington, D.C. In 2015, Giana Amador and Noah Deich started the organization together at the University of California, Berkeley. Carbon180 supports ways to remove carbon dioxide from the air, such as direct air capture, removing carbon from forests, and increasing carbon in agricultural soil. The group works with lawmakers, schools, scientific institutions, and businesses to support and use technologies that remove carbon from the environment.

History

Carbon180 was started in 2015 at the University of California, Berkeley. Before 2018, it was called the Center for Carbon Removal. In 2017, the Center formed the New Carbon Economy Consortium with universities and national labs to do research, share information, and create ways to use and grow carbon removal solutions. Also in 2017, the Center worked to change the Section 45Q tax law to include projects that use DAC technology. This change became part of the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act. In 2018, Carbon180 hired Cassidy and Associates for a short time. In 2020, it hired the Coefficient Group to work with lawmakers to influence climate laws.

Carbon180 has received support from celebrities. Grimes, Halsey, and Odesza have promised to give a part of their NFT sales money to the organization. Grimes also pledged to give a portion of her sales from physical artwork to Carbon180.

Activities

Carbon180 focuses on federal policy advocacy, the New Carbon Economy Consortium, and the Leading with Soil Initiative. The organization also creates fact sheets and detailed information about different methods for removing carbon from the atmosphere.

The nonprofit helps create laws related to removing carbon dioxide, such as H.R.7434 – Federal Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act of 2022. It supports solutions like soil carbon as the U.S. Congress considers the 2023 Farm Bill. Carbon180 recently shared its views on direct air capture technology with the U.S. Department of Energy as the agency works on the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program.

Launched in 2017, the Consortium includes members from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Arizona State University, University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Howard University, Purdue University, University of British Columbia, University of California, Berkeley, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Global CO2 Initiative, and Carbon180. The group holds workshops to create a research plan that explores the human, environmental, and economic effects of a new carbon economy.

Carbon180 sees soil carbon sequestration as an effective way to address climate change. It published a report titled Soil Carbon Moonshot: Grounding Carbon Storage in Science, which suggests a $2.3 billion effort across government agencies to study and expand soil carbon practices.