PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 17, 2024
The Portland-based carbon-capture startup that shut down suddenly on Friday after gaining international praise is being criticized for dubious scientific claims and practices. Running Tide purported to deploy chunks of wood waste coated in limestone and kelp spores into the ocean near Iceland, where they would absorb carbon and sink to the seabed or be eaten by marine animals. The startup would then sell carbon credits to big companies to offset their emissions. Running Tide, which had raised more than $50 million from private investors, closed because it could no longer sell enough carbon credits to survive after the market collapsed last fall. “The methods used by Running Tide do not sequester any carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Zero,” said Jón Ólafsson, oceanographer and professor emeritus of the University of Iceland. “All this nonsense is for nothing.”