Partnering with nature to tackle our biggest environmental challenge
InterEarth is focused on meaningful action to remove excess atmospheric CO2, now. Photosynthesis is a powerful technology to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and the backbone of our solution. We grow trees, harvest their above ground biomass and put that biomass, and its contained carbon, back underground. Safe, simple, scalable and actionable now!
Our Partners
Counteract is our seed investor and a great fit for us. Counteract is the world's first investor to focus solely on catalysing carbon removal.
Puro.earth is likewise a great fit with us, being the world’s first B2B marketplace, standard and registry focused solely on carbon removal.
Counteract ↗ Puro Earth ↗
We are actively seeking more partners. If you think your business is a good fit with ours, please get in touch via the button below.
Our Story
A start-up with a big idea
InterEarth is a startup with a big idea that originated with understanding the technical complexities of engineering the removal of excess, but still relatively dilute levels of, CO2 direct from the atmosphere, as well as the production and socio-economic challenges facing marginal low-rainfall farmland in Australia. It turns out that the native woodland species originally cleared to allow for farming in these areas are highly efficient at capturing atmospheric CO2, especially when routinely harvested and allowed to coppice (regrow). Combine these high production coppicing trees with dedicated subterranean biomass storage and you have a solution with Gt CO2 per year removal potential, that can start to make a difference now. There is certainly a lot of marginal low-rainfall farmland crying out for new sustainable uses in Australia and elsewhere around the world. In fact, hundreds of millions of hectares of potential production sites have been identified.
Why we exist
The benefits of InterEarth
Removes more carbon …
The repeating cycle of grow-harvest-bury-grow creates an effective atmospheric CO2 pump that can run for as long as the world needs it. The InterEarth system removes many times more CO2 per area of land than just replanting trees to create a new forest. This means we can leave high rainfall, high productivity farmland to food and fiber production while still tackling our climate challenge.
… for longer
Putting the CO2-rich and inherently stable biomass underground radically reduces the risk of CO2 returning to the atmosphere. When the right conditions are created and maintained, the captured CO2 is locked away in perpetuity. In effect we are recreating the conditions that initiate the formation of coal. You could say that InterEarth is a “reverse mining” business.
Positive secondary environmental impacts …
The InterEarth system improves soil quality, eliminating soil drift and desertification, restores lost floral and faunal habitats, and addresses groundwater over-recharge, the driver of secondary salination. The latter is a major, local environmental disaster that has seen ~6% of agricultural land in our primary target area, lost with another 25% at risk.
… and great for local communities
InterEarth will help to diversify and strengthen the local economy which has been suffering from the impacts of climate change, especially declining and more sporadic rainfall, and increasing global competition in grain production. InterEarth will help to reverse the long-term decline in local communities. InterEarth is part of the new clean-tech economy, creating new, secure jobs, and new career and business opportunities.
Rock solid science …
There is nothing tricky here. We know photosynthesis is highly efficient solar-powered carbon capture technology. We know that biomass-based carbon can be stored underground for eons. In addition, everything InterEarth does can be directly measured and monitored in as much detail, and for as long as needed, to provide absolute assurance that CO2 removal has occurred and is sustained.
… with global potential
While InterEarth will start in Australia, the solution can be applied just about anywhere hot deserts meet low-rainfall farmland, with Africa offering the greatest opportunity. Clearly there will be challenges in translating the InterEarth solution to different ecologies, cultures and jurisdictions. However, we are experienced in finding the right models to strengthen and win the support of local communities while helping to tackle our greatest global environmental challenge.
What our partners say
“At Counteract we look at everything in carbon removal. We invested in InterEarth because it is the biggest and best opportunity for real results in the near term.”
— Andy Bonsall, Managing Partner at Counteract
Primary salinity develops naturally in areas where evaporation is high and rainfall low, as seen in salt flats and salt lakes…