The latest episode of my Climate Confident Podcast features a conversation with Tim Brown, the CEO of Tradewater. Tradewater is a company that is focused on collecting, controlling, and destroying greenhouse gases with the goal of making the biggest impact possible, as fast as possible.

During the podcast, Tim explains that as a mission-driven company, Tradewater is particularly interested in non-CO2 gases, which are short-lived climate pollutants that do their damage early on when they are released. The gases that Tradewater is currently focusing on include old refrigerants that are up to 10,900 times as potent as CO2, and methane from abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells that are leaking methane into the atmosphere.

Tim also discussed the scale of the issue, with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently estimating that there are 9 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent from these gases scattered around the world, most of them already in appliances, foams, building insulation, and other applications. On the HCFCs, which are lower in their global warming potential emissions factor, there are 5 billion metric tons of those gases deployed around the world.

Trade Water’s current goal is to reach a new baseline of 3 million metric tons per year, starting in 2023 and by 2028, they hope to have done 20 million tons of impact. Tim also shared that one of the most interesting aspects of their work has been the global dimension of it and how it has put them in contact with many interesting people around the world. They are always looking for partners and people who are knowledgeable about where these gases may exist, and they have done projects and are working in Honduras, Dominican Republic, Chile, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Thailand and also have intentions to evaluate about 16 more countries this year.

One of the key takeaways from the podcast is that these gases are fungible in the atmosphere and collecting, controlling, and destroying them will benefit everyone. The global nature of this work highlights the magnitude of this problem, but it also presents an opportunity to work in a global context and bring this work up to scale.

The conversation with Tim was both informative and inspiring. It’s clear that Tradewater is making a significant impact in the fight against climate change, and I encourage listeners to check out the full episode to learn more about the work that they are doing. If you’re interested in learning more about the company or connecting with Tim, you can visit their website at tradewater.us or find him on LinkedIn.

And of course, be sure to follow the Climate Confident Podcast to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and solutions in the fight against climate change.

Photo credit FracTracker Alliance on Flickr