In this issue of the GCI newsletter, we feature Kianna Marquez, a junior in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan’s (U-M) College of Engineering, a columnist for the Michigan Daily, and the founder of the Global CO₂ Initiative Student Association.

Once I took more classes in chemical engineering, and I heard about carbon removal, I really fell in love with it.

~ Kianna Marquez

What led you to become a chemical engineer at U-M?

Growing up, I always loved math and science. It's important to recognize how encouraged and motivated I was by my parents, even though they came from a completely different background. Neither of them are engineers or from Michigan. My dad is Mexican and my mom was born in California, but raised by Mexican parents.

The encouragement that I got from them enabled me to consider engineering as a possibility. That, coupled with my love for the environment, which I've had since the day I was born, led me to realize that I wanted to do something with sustainability in college. 



How did you happen to create the Global CO₂ Initiative Student Association?

I was looking for ways to get more involved in carbon removal because it was super exciting to me. I wanted to get some kind of experience with it somehow, during my time here at U-M. There were not many opportunities available for undergraduates, so I went to Professor Volker Sick and proposed that we start this group. Volker and the whole GCI team were very supportive and enthusiastic. Since then we have also expanded to include graduate students.

Mainly, I wanted to start the group in order to make opportunities available to students who aren't officially associated with the Global CO₂ initiative. I'm super excited about it and I hope that it turns into something a lot bigger as the future comes, because carbon removal is definitely something that is going to be getting a lot bigger.



What do you mean you want to give students opportunities?  

We want to give them opportunities just to learn about carbon removal. There are no classes or majors that focus specifically on carbon dioxide removal. I wanted to make the GCI Student Association a free space for people to just learn about it. Every other week we have seminars about different topics pertaining to carbon removal, so students can learn more about it. We do have projects going on, like making direct air capture machines. 

That sounds amazing! Could you talk a bit about that work? 

We're building our own really small scale direct air capture machines. We are working in collaboration with the Open Air Collective, which is an organization that has been doing community source research on direct air capture. They’re providing us with some basic information and students are making their own machines. The machines are small enough that people can actually build them in their houses or in their apartments. And so it's a good way for people to learn more about the technology by engaging with it in a hands-on way.

What about this field appeals to you?

I had already known that I wanted to work in energy systems and energy storage. Initially, I was thinking about getting into renewable energy, because that will become increasingly important in the future. But, once I took more classes in chemical engineering, and I heard about carbon removal, I really fell in love with it. I found my passion. It is a new and growing field–even more so than renewable energy. Because it is so new, I have an opportunity to really help with its development. As an engineer, it's exciting to figure out the answer to something that doesn't yet have an answer.

Is there anything you wish more people understood about carbon removal?

It's super important that people understand how necessary carbon removal is going to be in terms of solving the global climate crisis.  It's important to recognize that it's not the end-all be-all solution, but it's something that is definitely going to be necessary. Carbon removal is going to be a part of our lives if we are going to address the climate crisis successfully.

To read more about Kianna, check out the Lemelson Foundation’s article, Pushing for an Engineering Revolution: How the next generation of engineers is advocating for a focus on sustainability and social justice.

News in a Nutshell

The Faraday discussions paper "CO2 Utilization: why, why now, and how?", published as part of Dr. Volker Sick's Spiers Memorial Lecture at the recent Faraday Discussion, has just been released. To view his lecture, please click here.

CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure were named XPRIZE winners! The world needs new technology to move the CCU needle and accelerate the use of carbon dioxide capture and utilization, as measured by the Carbon Removal Index.

Five years ago, you would have found seven articles if you googled “carbon capture and utilization”. Today, according to Xprize, you would find more than 46 million results.

Could Texas take the lead on carbon capture?

What can you do with captured carbon dioxide CO₂? Make vodka, toothpaste & yoga mats of course!

Earth Day gift ideas

XPRIZE released a podcast about the past, present & future of Carbon Capture

For the first time, a high-level budget request to Congress features carbon removal.

Kudos to Climeworks for their role in the London Science Museum's new exhibition "Our Future Planet"

GCI Webinar: Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-economic Assessment of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage

May 4, May 11, May 12, May 19, & May 26

For more information about this free webinar, please click here or to register, please click here.



BMBF funding measure status conference: "CO₂ as a sustainable source of carbon - Pathways to industrial applications - CO₂-WIN". This virtual conference will be in English and is free.

June 8-9, 2021

For more information, please click here.

Carbon to Value Initiative Kick-off Event

Come meet the selected cohort startups joining the program this year! C2V is building a diverse portfolio representative of multiple technologies, commercialization strategies and carbontech pathways. We will announce the participating startups prior the event.

May 6, 2021

To register for the event, please click here.

CO₂ Value Europe and Sunergy are holding their online joint workshop “R&I Opportunities for a Fossil-free Europe: Brokerage Event on EU funding”.

April 29

For more information, please click here.

Keep in touch

We want to hear from you! Is there something or someone that you would like to see featured in a future issue? Let us know!