“Especially in the field that we’re in, no one’s ever done this before, so we’re constantly looking for people to challenge the status quo—Breakthrough really helps us do that.”

Talal Hasan, founder and CEO of carbon elimination company 44.01, talks net-zero targets and what it’s like working with a Bill Gates venture.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    11 months ago

    The Theranos debacle was based on imaginary analysis processes that didn’t exist.

    Mineralization in general and mineralization of carbon is a more simple concept and practice(capture carbon, trap carbon, deposit trapped carbon) based on existing phenomena, so there’s way, way less wiggle room for claims of breakthrough technology by a cult of personality that cannot be audited for authenticity.

    • CameronDev@programming.dev
      3·
      11 months ago

      Is rapid mineralisation of carbon at scale a solved technology? I didnt see anything about how they were speeding it up, or even if they had captured/stored anything yet.

      To me, this article stunk of an attempt to build a cult of personality, so I am pretty skeptical, but this is not my wheelhouse so I could be very wrong.

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        11 months ago

        Mineralization of carbon is an understood, slow natural process that this company artificially rapidly accelerates.

        As for your claim that the article doesn’t mention if they’ve stored any carbon yet, within this article, his referenced holding up stored carbon at a presentation from one of the three plants they’ve built so far mentioned in the article (the UAE plant is operational).

        This is not a technical article, it’s an introduction to a new sustainable company that’s producing carbon trapped minerals.

        If you are interested, he explains the process a little more here:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-M1w2yMknU&t=108

        I didn’t get the cult of personality at all. He has a few quotes, and mostly talks about how big the problem they’re facing is, how they’re learning and appreciate the guidance and support they’ve received so far. His videos have no production value and online presence isn’t screaming for investment.

        This is in stark contrast to theranos and the highly produced holmes who claimed to have already solved all problems and consistently bragged about the limitless applications and comprehensive success of her technology that was completely obscured, even in-house.

        The article is optimistic about the technology, but it is very unlike something like the glorification of theranos or holmes.

        • CameronDev@programming.dev
          2·
          11 months ago

          Ill give that a watch, thanks.

          I read the bit about the rock he presented, but it doesnt make it clear whether that was a rock that was naturally mineralised or something that they had produced.

          The cult of personality vibe was mostly from the “millenial” part of the headline, and the Bill Gates association, it just rubbed me the wrong way i guess.

          Hopefully I am wrong, and this pans out, we definitely need this kind of tech to work.

          • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            You aren’t wrong about the cult of personality thing here. Why we need to know anything about the founder and his association with Bill Gates is beyond me. Talk about the process and the business case, but if I never hear the name of another business “guru”, I’ll be happy.