Episode 1 - Marian Krueger

The CDR Procurement Guide

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In this episode of The CDR Procurement Guide, Eli spoke with Marian Krueger Co-Founder & Managing Director of remove.

remove is Europe's leading whole ecosystem accelerator program, focused on maximizing the potential of the best CDR market solutions through support for early-stage startups from across the region, and now beyond. A non-profit program supported by leading climate investors and philanthropists, they support startups in all CDR pathways with funding, entrepreneurship and CDR expert coaching and in parallel contribute to the creation of a supportive European CDR ecosystem.

Marian is a climate entrepreneur and a CDR ecosystem enabler. He's dedicated his career to the development of CDR and has been a key instrumental figure in the development of the European CDR community. He sits at the intersection of science and market solutions, starting with thought leadership in one of Europe's foremost academic institutions (ETH Zurich) and acting as a conductor of the flow of talent and ideas into an emerging market. Marian Krueger could best be described as an impact entrepreneur: first as a venture developer at the German green utility, Innogy; then founding his own startup, Ucair, to increase photovoltaic yield using drones and AI data analytics; he then went on to join ETH Zurich’s Sustainability in Business Lab, ETH sus.lab, as Decarbonisation Lead, where he co-founded the remove accelerator.

Marian holds two Masters degrees, one in education and one in behavioral economics and sustainability from the London School of Economics. He is also the book author for the CDR buyer community, published for the German speaking market, titled ‘Race to Zero’.

Some of the highlights from this episode:

• Why it’s so important for decision-makers to engage in CDR early and understand the science and economics. There is no substitute for seeing CDR solutions physically. Seeing is believing!
• The different approaches to buying, either building internal expertise or working with external experts.
• Why we should not see a choice between emissions reduction or carbon removal, but pursue both in parallel.
• The need for C-level support for CDR purchases from the outset.
• Marian’s belief that there are strategic opportunities from being early to CDR procurement beyond meeting public commitments of meeting net zero by a date and removing historical emissions.

-Relevant Links-

• Marian’s LinkedIn
• remove Accelerator’s website
• Race to Zero
• Microsoft procurement process/learnings
• ETH sus.lab/BMW Foundation From Awareness to Action: The Six Building Blocks for Purchasing Carbon Removal
• Carbon Gap Envisioning a carbon removal strategy for Europe