Ulysses
Climate Transformation Fund • Australia
Using robotics to restore seagrass and boost carbon sequestration
This project focuses on large-scale seagrass ecosystem restoration in Western Australia using robotic technology. Ulysses is working in collaboration with the University of Western Australia. The group aims to restore thousands of hectares of seagrass meadows, which can store large amounts of carbon annually. The project develops innovative robotic technology for seed collection, planting, and monitoring. Ulysses, in partnership with UWA, provides a novel, scalable method with significant co-benefits for carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and coastal ecosystems.
Nature protection and restoration
Protecting and restoring nature is of paramount importance for addressing climate change. Deforestation and forest degradation result in substantial carbon emissions as forests are destroyed. Preserving the carbon stored in existing ecosystems and restoring carbon to areas that have lost it are critical steps in mitigating climate change. These actions not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also have significant co-benefits for both human societies and biodiversity.
Seagrass restoration
Seagrass restoration is an important approach within nature based solutions due to its remarkable capacity for carbon sequestration, capturing carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests and accounting for 10-18% of the ocean's total carbon storage, despite covering only 0.1-0.2% of the seabed. As the world’s only flowering plant that thrives in seawater, seagrass not only plays a vital role in reducing atmospheric carbon but also offers additional benefits such as protecting coastlines from storm damage and erosion, and filtering pollutants from marine environments. However, seagrass meadows have significantly declined, with over a third lost in the past 40 years, primarily due to destructive fishing practices, pollution, and the impacts of climate change, highlighting the urgent need for restoration efforts.
Durable carbon removal
Namibia
PyroCCS pioneers sustainable industrial biochar carbon removal in the Global South, deploying its own low-cost, robust, pyrolysis systems powered by renewable energy and backed by a digital measurement and reporting solution. These plants efficiently convert invasive acacia bushes in Namibia, a significant threat to the savanna ecosystem, into high-quality biochar, while providing critical employment in regions with high youth unemployment rates. PyroCCS's scalable technology, which they are also offering as a solution to other project developers, not only captures carbon but also supports local agricultural and environmental recovery as well as food security.
Decarbonization
South Africa
CHAI will work on the high impact project of transitioning a portfolio of hospitals in South Africa's Western Cape Province to renewable energy. This could be a high impact measure that is currently not occurring due to the limited capacity of the department of health and because of bureaucratic hurdles to innovative financial and energy contracts. The project has the potential to reduce emissions by hundreds of thousands of tons, and leverages CHAI's extensive experience in health sector procurement and innovative finance.
Nature protection and restoration
Tanzania
This project develops a mobile app for regreening techniques like Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). The app delivers real-time, location-specific advice directly to farmers' phones. This approach reduces intervention costs by eliminating the need for in-person visits to every location. We already support Justdiggit’s regular work since 2021, and now added this project because it builds on proven FMNR methods, increasing cost-efficiency and potential for rapid scaling in dry landscapes.