Year: 2023

Migo-Sumagang et al. (2023): Mathematical Modeling and Monte Carlo Simulation of Negative Emissions Technology Portfolios

Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang, Raymond R. Tan, Kathleen B. Aviso IN: Chemical Engineering Transaction, 106, https://doi.org/10.3303/CET23106003

Computing optimal NET portfolios are challenged by uncertainties in the availability of resources that are difficult to predict precisely. This work implements a two-step approach to evaluating the robustness of NET portfolios. The first step is mathematical modeling to generate optimal and suboptimal solutions. The second step is subjecting the solutions to Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the tradeoff between their cost and robustness against uncertain resource availability. The two-step approach is demonstrated in a case study on NET portfolios.

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Working paper: Decarbonizing India: Harnessing Direct-Air-Capture (DAC) to Combat the Climate Effects of Coal

by Arnab Sinha & Arun Kumar Rajasekaran, 3rd International Conference on Coal Supply Chain and Technology, September 2023

The urgent need to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality has led to the exploration of innovative technologies such as Direct-Air-Capture (DAC). In a country like India, where coal continues to be a significant component of the energy mix, it is essential to evaluate DAC as a potential solution for offsetting carbon emissions. This paper shall provide a qualitative analysis of the applicability and potential benefits of DAC in the Indian context, focusing on its role in achieving net-zero emissions.

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Call for proposals: Climate Transformation Fund 2024

Deadline: January 21, 2024

The Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund (CTF), launched in 2021, is a charitable fund that supports pioneering projects needed to reach global net zero. The ambition is guided by an impact-first approach, meaning to support solutions with the greatest potential long-term climate impact rather than narrowly focusing on enabling carbon compensation claims. This year, in preparation for the fourth allocation round, we are launching a call for proposals within each of the three pillars that the CTF supports projects across: durable carbon removal, nature restoration and protection, emission reduction.

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Hansson (2023): Making the 1.5°C Aspirational Climate Target Tangible with Carbon Dioxide Removal and Boundary Work

Anders Hansson IN: Climate, Science and Society, DOI: 10.432/9781003409748-43

The chapter explores how methods for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are established as tools to manage climate change. According to more recent IPCC reports, grand-scale use of CDR, and primary bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), are necessities for the 1.5°C aspirational target. However, the methods are only modestly implemented today, and an upscaling would face and create many severe challenges. The IPCC’s climate mitigation scenarios and pathways are central to creating visions, and they also influence what future development is deemed viable. Therefore, the chapter illustrates how the STS concept boundary work can be applied to study how relevance and irrelevance are established in the drafting process of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. 

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Why does engineered carbon removal need ratings?

by Alex Luke, Victoria Harvey, Ted Christie-Miller on bezerocarbon.com, December 13, 2023

“Although the sector is growing, an enormous scale-up is still required. Estimates anticipate that demand for CDR will grow to 40-200 Mt/CO2e per year by the end of this decade. At present, engineered CDR removes just 61,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Therefore meeting the projected demand will require annual deliveries to increase by 655-3,300 times by 2030. Ratings will be vital to helping the sector meet this challenge. Over the coming years, they will be a catalyst for the growth of the sector by driving demand for CDR credits, helping to unlock finance for new or early-stage projects, and improving confidence and trust in the voluntary carbon market.”

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Grubert & Talati (2023): The distortionary effects of unconstrained for-profit carbon dioxide removal and the need for early governance intervention

Emily Grubert, Shuchi Talati IN: Carbon Management, https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2292111

Governance and institutions, especially related to how CDR is allocated and paid for, will fundamentally shape CDR efforts, including by structurally incentivizing particular approaches and monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) objectives. The authors argue that the emerging tendency toward market-based, unconstrained, and for-profit CDR presents fundamental and predictable risks for climate and justice goals. Such a model incentivizes growth in profitable compensatory removal applications, effectively allocating limited resources based on ability to pay rather than public good, while also increasing the amount of CDR required to meet global climate targets. They describe the need, development context, function, and resource limitations of CDR, then characterize the major challenges with the emerging unconstrained, for-profit governance model.

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Key Takeaways From COP28 UAE

by Petya Trendafilova on carbonherald.com, December 15, 2023

“Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) took center stage at discussions during COP28. It can help support countries in bridging the gap between current emission reduction commitments and what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. To fulfill its potential, it should be accelerated massively by 2030. According to CDR.fyi, durable CDR credits would need to scale almost 1,000 times to reach 40 million tons in 2030. The end goal is for them to be scaled to a gigaton’s annual capacity to support progress towards eliminating global emissions. “

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Direct air capture: An expensive, dangerous distraction from real climate solutions

by Kurt Zenz House, Josh Goldman, Charles F. Harvey on thebulletin, December 15, 2023

“All year, the zeitgeist has been building toward technologies that separate carbon dioxide from air, referred to as direct air capture (DAC). In September, the United States Department of Energy awarded Occidental Petroleum a $600 million grant to build a DAC machine. As scientists and entrepreneurs who’ve dedicated our careers to help solve global warming, you might expect us to be happy. We are not.”

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