World Solve

The problem of nitrous oxide from fertilizers continues to affect hundreds of millions of people and undermines progress on multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Existing responses remain fragmented, under-resourced and poorly adapted to local contexts. A strong solution must operate effectively under severe constraints of skilled personnel, infrastructure, electricity and connectivity. It should define clear measurable outcomes, identify possible unintended harms, and demonstrate how the intervention can be sustained by local institutions long after initial funding ends.

Future progress on human development and planetary health depends on solving atmospheric carbon dioxide remaining too high. Conventional approaches have proven insufficient. The required intervention must integrate community knowledge, data and appropriate technology while remaining affordable, privacy-preserving and operable with minimal external support. Strong solutions will articulate measurable impact metrics, risk mitigation strategies, and a plan for sustained operation by local actors after the pilot phase.

The absence of robust, context-adapted solutions for solutions for safe long-term storage and monitoring of captured carbon dioxide creates cascading risks across interconnected human and natural systems. Key missing elements include durable performance, low lifetime cost, and governance arrangements capable of sustaining impact beyond pilot stages.

Chemical lithium-hydroxide canisters are consumable, heavy, and wasteful for multi-year missions. Algae photo-bioreactors capable of converting human exhaled CO2 directly into oxygen and edible protein are required.

Converting Mars' 95% CO2 atmosphere into plastics, methane, and industrial reagents requires complex catalysts that foul quickly. High-efficiency solid oxide electrolysis systems optimized for dirty ambient gas are needed.

Methane traps far more heat than carbon dioxide in the short term, yet nearly all climate technology focuses on capturing carbon dioxide instead. A cheap way to actively remove atmospheric methane could meaningfully slow near-term warming.

As oceans absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they become more acidic in ways that threaten shellfish, coral, and the broader marine food chain. Reversing or even halting this chemical shift remains beyond current technology.

Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the short term, and much of it leaks unnoticed from pipelines and wells. Better detection and faster repairs could meaningfully slow near-term warming.

Direct air capture exists, but it's still far too expensive and energy-intensive to make a dent in global emissions. Making it cheap enough to scale is one of the biggest levers left for slowing climate change.

Current approaches to biotechnologies enabling the production of high-value materials from captured carbon dioxide either underperform under variable field conditions or generate externalities that undermine long-term sustainability and equity. Closing the gap requires coordinated advances in science, systems design and enabling institutions.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for systems ensuring the long-term stewardship of carbon dioxide removal projects. Scientific understanding, engineering readiness and institutional capacity remain insufficient to translate promising concepts into durable impact under real-world constraints of cost, skills and governance.