Real Climate Impact Starts Local and Starts Now at a Fraction of the Cost

~ Paul Hickman - Urban Ashes CEO

Direct Air Capture is the flashy new headline. Urban, salvaged and

reclaimed wood (urban wood) is the proven workhorse already delivering results.

Each year, in the United States, more than 40 million metric tonnes

of quality urban wood go vastly underutilized. This from urban, suburban, rural

and agricultural trees lost to storms, fires, pests, removals, and old age.

Most of it is chipped, burned, or landfilled.

When we recover that wood, it becomes American products such as

quality lumber, mass timber, furniture, biochar, biocomposites, and other

durable wood goods. This stores carbon, creates jobs, cuts disposal costs, and

strengthens communities. It is not a theory. It is a model that worked for

thousands of years and is ready to scale again.

Cost per tonne of CO2 removed

Direct Air Capture: $2000 

Urban, Salvaged and Reclaimed Wood Recovery: $10 to $50

Urban wood recovery delivers up to 200 times more climate impact

per dollar and keeps 60 to 80 cents of every dollar local. DAC keeps only about

5 to 15 cents local and most of that only during construction. The rest flows

to large corporations and investors, typically outside of the community.

This is not about choosing one solution over another. We need both,

in the right order. Urban wood is proven, cost effective, and shovel ready. It

creates jobs, builds circular economies, and stores carbon now. DAC may help

later with legacy emissions, but it is not the front line.

The one-billion-dollar Stratos DAC project is delayed due to EPA

permitting concerns over groundwater safety and seismic risk, along with supply

chain issues. These delays highlight how complex and unproven DAC remains at

scale.

DAC still has about 2 billion in federal support moving forward.

Urban wood recovery was set to receive a record 180 to 350 million in funding

but is now facing delays and clawback efforts.

We must get our priorities straight!

Urban Ashes can help you, your clients, or your community design

and launch systems that store carbon, create jobs, and deliver real local

impact.

The choice is not DAC or wood. The choice is to start with what

works.