Public Carbon Capture: Request for Proposals

Abstract

In the summer 2018, The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued an open call for public art proposals. This call propelled long-standing beliefs in the power of public art to prefigure and culturally situate the programmes of institutions. CARB, part of California’s government, a department in the California Environmental Protection Agency, is charged with implementing policies to maintain healthy air quality and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and has been instrumental in driving innovation by defining emission standards.

Sobecka and Allen’s submission, a response to this call, was an expression of interest, proposing the construction of an active carbon capture and storage system, as public artwork. The project effects stakeholders through the carbon material, transport and infrastructure markets, and entails support and collaborative effort from diverse fields — art, design, engineering, governance and policy, along with all things living within Earth’s atmospheric canopy.

This proposal document, “Public Carbon Capture Request for Qualifications & Expressions of Interest (RFQ)”, issued by Sobecka and Allen, is a means of further involving project partners and the commissioning body, as well as consolidating context, project focus and developing further public stakeholders. By elaborating Carbon Capture and Sequestration actions, actors and stakeholders, flows, sources and sinks, as well as the rudiments of capture and storage systems, it is hoped that such a proposal will garner further interdisciplinary collaborations, substantiation, sponsorship and stewardship. It is the beginning of a story about carbon capture as a rich space for public discussions in and on atmospheric and planetary commons.