The Best Pure Play Carbon Capture Stock

If you’re looking for a carbon capture stock, you might pitch your tent in one of two camps. The first camp believes that reducing carbon will save the planet, and therefore we must pursue this mission at all costs, profits be damned. The second camp believes that because so much money is being thrown at solutions to reduce carbon, you can’t help but make money by investing in carbon capture technologies. But here’s something both camps need to consider.

You will not be able to capture carbon at scale, and at a sustainable rate, unless you can do so profitably. The amount of carbon that needs to be reduced is so massive that such a lofty goal will only be accomplished if the end solution can generate a profit for investors. The alternative is to subsidize carbon capture, but that’s not going to scale, nor will it show green tech investors a return on their investment. We’re looking for an enterprise that can profitably capture carbon and show us a worthwhile ROI. It’s easier said than done.

The Business of Capturing Carbon

A few years ago we asked the question, How Can We Reduce Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere? In that article, we looked at a company called Climeworks which was removing carbon for $100-per-ton and selling it for $26 a ton. That’s hardly an economically viable business. Capturing carbon and then turning it into products isn’t a novel idea. Companies are trying to turn carbon into