The former heard of corporate venture capital at BP, Issam Dairanieh, will take the helm of CO2 Sciences’ initiative to convert carbon emissions into saleable goods. CO2 Sciences and its parent organization, the Global CO2 Initiative, were launched in January at the World Economic Forum annual meeting. The organizations are working toward the goal of capturing 10 percent of global CO2 emissions by harnessing “market demand for products that capture and reuse CO2 in order to catalyze substantial economically-driven change,” according to the organization’s website.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to harness the power of commercial markets to reuse global CO2,” Dairanieh said in a press release. “We estimate that converting CO2 into products like construction materials, fuels, and carbon fiber has a market value of $800 billion — 1.1 trillion annually, achievable by 2030.
Former Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, a member of the Global CO2 Initiative’s advisory board, applauded Dairanieh’s appointment. “The Global CO2 Initiative is taking on the grand challenge of developing real-world solutions to reduce our carbon emissions,” Chu said in the press release. “Dr. Dairanieh is well positioned to undertake this ambitious and critically important effort that will have a direct impact on climate change.”
