Month: September 2023

Media

DOE Announces $35 Million to Accelerate Carbon Dioxide Removal

energy.gov, September 29, 2023

“The U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced up to $35 million, made available through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, to advance technologies that reduce emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and shipping and legacy carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution by removing it directly from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal is a key component for achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic climate and clean energy agenda. The Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Purchase Pilot Prize will enable companies to compete for the opportunity to sell carbon dioxide removal credits directly to DOE. This will help build standards for successful carbon dioxide removal programs and create a market to encourage technology innovation and the growth of the industry.”

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Waller et al. (2023): Carbon removal demonstrations and problems of public perception

Laurie Waller, Emily Cox, Rob Bellamy IN: WIREs Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.857

Public perceptions play a critical role in demonstrations and funders widely require demonstration projects to identify and consult affected groups and communities. This review examines the extant research on perceptions of carbon removal, analyzing how studies have conceptualized the public and the role perceptions play in field trials and experiments of carbon removal methods. The paper develops a novel analytical framework distinguishing between “procedural” and “performative” approaches to demonstrations.

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Science-Policy Documents

Schübel (2023): Individuals’ responsibilities to remove carbon

Hanna Schübel IN: Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2023.2260241

In this paper, the author argues for two concepts of individual responsibility to capture the moral responsibility of individuals to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through CDR technologies. The first is that of liability, a direct responsibility to remove carbon in order to minimize one’s carbon footprint. The second is a shared political responsibility to remove carbon that individuals have by virtue of being part of weak collectives responsible for mitigating climate change or by virtue of participating in structures that contribute to climate change. 

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German News

Bäume pflanzen fürs Klima: Nutzen oft nicht nachweisbar

dpa, sueddeutsche.de/wissen/, 28. September 2023, 7:57 Uhr

“Wer dem Klima schadet, kann zum Ausgleich Bäume pflanzen lassen. […] Bäume speichern CO2 und helfen damit dem Klima – soweit die auf den ersten Blick naheliegende und charmante Idee. Aber so einfach ist die Sache nicht. Selbst wenn der gepflanzte Wald dem Klima nutze, sei das oft nicht zu quantifizieren, wie Wissenschaftler erklären. Schlechtestenfalls bewirke eine solche Aktion sogar das Gegenteil. Dabei sei der Grundgedanke ja nicht falsch, sagt Christopher Reyer vom Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK): “Wir brauchen mehr Wälder.””

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hernández-León (2023): The biological carbon pump, diel vertical migration, and carbon dioxide removal

Santiago Hernández-León IN: iScience, 107835, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107835

Several marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) technologies were proposed to slow down CO2 in the atmosphere. Technologies now under experimentation are related to the increase in gravitational flux. Other mechanisms such as active flux, the transport performed by diel vertical migrants (DVMs) were not considered. The authors review the effect of DVMs in the epipelagic realm and the top-down promoted by these organisms upon zooplankton and microzooplankton, and their variability due to lunar cycles.

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German News

Protest gegen umstrittene CCS-Technik – Anhörung im Landtag

dpa, sueddeutsche.de, September 2023, 17:28 Uhr

“Gegen eine Nutzung der umstrittenen CCS-Technik zur unterirdischen Speicherung von Kohlendioxid in der Nordsee haben Umweltschützer am Mittwoch vor dem Landtag in Kiel demonstriert. Aus Anlass einer Expertenanhörung im Parlament erklärte ein Bündnis des BUND mit Organisationen wie Fridays for Future und Greenpeace, dass CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) große Risiken für Umwelt und Natur berge. Zudem sei die Technologie volkswirtschaftlicher Unsinn, behindere die Energiewende und nehme die Möglichkeiten des biologischen Klimaschutzes nicht wahr.”

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Science-Policy Documents

White Paper: Carbon Dioxide Removal Policies for a Net Zero Switzerland and Beyond

Nicoletta Brazzola, Samuel Eberenz, and Matthias Honegger with contributions by Viola Becattini, Regina Betz, Stephanie Bischof, Cyril Brunner, Marie-Valentine Florin, Roman Hüppi, Kristina Koch, Aymeric Reymond, Juanita von Rothkirch, Hanna Schübel, Katrin Sievert; CDR Swiss White Paper. Risk
Dialogue Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2023

The Swiss Carbon Removal Platform (CDR Swiss) hosted by the Swiss Risk Dialogue Foundation has facilitated the work on this White Paper. It is the product of the collaboration between some of the members of the Swiss Carbon Removal Platform and thus conveys the different views and knowledge on CDR policy of experts from academia, NGOs, administration, and industry. This White Paper offers an overview of key considerations in the development and implementation of policies to mobilize carbon dioxide removals (CDR) towards the Swiss goal of reaching Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

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German News

CCS: Risikoabwägung im schleswig-holsteinischen Landtag

Constantin Gill, ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein, 27.09.2023 18:03 Uhr

“Die CCS-Technologie ist umstritten, aber Wissenschaftler sehen sie als Möglichkeit, zumindest einen Teil der CO2-Emissionen zu drücken. Im Landtag haben die Abgeordneten Experten aus verschiedenen Bereichen angehört und Input bekommen – auch aus Dänemark, wo inzwischen auf CCS gesetzt wird.”

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Zeeshan et al. (2023): Direct air capture of CO2: from insights into the current and emerging approaches to future opportunities

Muhammad Zeeshan, Michelle K. Kidder, Emily Pentzer, Rachel B. Getman, Burcu Gurkan IN: Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1167713

The authors provide a mini review of the current research on the emerging liquid- and solid-based sorbent materials to capture CO2, summarize the existing challenges of DAC technologies, and suggest future research directions to accelerate the development of DAC systems. In particular, the desired properties for a breakthrough sorbent that efficiently captures CO2 from the air and releases it for sequestration are described.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maddala et al. (2023): A study of the mechanical, thermal, and environmental properties of cementitious materials with added biochar

Padmakar Maddala, Subhash Chandra, K. Venkata Ramesh IN: Journal of Aeronautical Materials, https://www.hkclxb.cn/article/view/2023/2-411.html

This article provides a thorough analysis of the existing literature regarding the mechanical, thermal, and environmental characteristics of cementitious materials that contain biochar as an additive. Due to their potential to enhance the mechanical properties of concrete, biochar-infused cementitious materials have been the focus of recent research. It has been demonstrated that biochar, a carbon-rich substance created by roasting biological substances without oxygen, has a number of beneficial characteristics, including the capacity to enhancesoil fertility and sequester carbon. 

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