In this edition of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Wil Burns discuss a novel sunlight-driven approach to marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) with Alex Gagnon, co-founder and CEO of Banyu Carbon, a direct ocean removal (DOR) startup based in Seattle, WA.

Alex’s professional journey as an academic turned startup founder provides key insight into the unique challenges and opportunities of the growing mCDR field. In this episode, he highlights Banyu Carbon’s progress in creating a more affordable, energy efficient DOR model and its potential to scale.

In particular, the conversation focuses on Banyu Carbon’s origin story and how the organization has navigated obstacles such as monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for small-scale mCDR deployment and strategies for regulatory approval and public engagement given the nascent state of the voluntary carbon market.

To learn more about Banyu’s role in advancing marine carbon removal, listen to the full episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service or find the entire series here: https://plansea.buzzsprout.com.

Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.