Report: Prospects for Land Sector Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States
by David Wear, Matthew Wibbenmeyer, Resources for the Future, June 2023
The authors model the potential for such land based CDR by accounting for land use change and forest growth and mortality over the next 40 years. Absent policy interventions, land-based CDR is expected to continue to decline, averaging 0.73 GT/year, as the nation’s forests age and sequestration slows. Afforestation programs could expand CDR over this baseline, with a 30-million-acre program keeping it close to recent historical values (0.83 GT/year) and a 90-million-acre program growing it to 0.95 GT/year. Substantial investments in novel technologies and also land/forest sequestration will be required to accomplish the CDR goals of the Long-Term Strategy.