CO2-removal news

Peer-reviewed Publications

Zhou et al. (2026): Grazer exclusion is associated with higher fast-cycling carbon pools but lower slow-cycling mineral-associated carbon across grasslands

Luhong Zhou, Shangshi Liu, Maarten Schrama, Deborah Ashworth and Richard D. Bardgett, IN: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2512048123

The removal of livestock grazers from historically grazed grasslands is widely proposed as a key strategy for the enhancement of soil organic carbon (SOC) for climate mitigation. Yet, accurate assessments of how grazer exclusion impacts SOC pools of differing stability are lacking, with most studies focusing on total SOC rather than the distribution of SOC within fast and more stable, slow-cycling pools. Here, the authors used 12 historically grazed grassland sites along an 800 km south–north gradient across the United Kingdom to test how particulate (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) pools were linked to long-term (>10 y) exclusion of large domesticated grazers.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Pierzchalski (2026): Wood and Wood-Based Products in Construction: Carbon Sequestration, Emissions and End-of-Life Scenarios

Michał Pierzchalski, IN: Drewno – Wood, https://doi.org/10.53502/wood-209238

This paper examines the climate impacts of using wood and wood-based products in construction, focusing on their carbon sequestration potential, life cycle emissions, and end-of-life scenarios. The analysis is based on Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and scientific literature, in accordance with LCA standards such as EN 15804 and ISO 14040. Three forest management strategies—long-rotation forestry, short-rotation plantations, and continuous cover forestry—are compared in terms of their carbon storage efficiency.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Marquez et al. (2026): Electrochemical Ocean-Based Carbon Capture: Roadblocks to Scale-Up

Raul A. Marquez, Adam C. Nielander, Joaquin Resasco, Thomas F. Jaramillo and C. Buddie Mullins, IN: ACS Energy Letters, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c04249

Electrochemical ocean-based negative emission technologies (EC-ONETs) are emerging strategies that harness the ocean’s capacity for carbon dioxide removal. These systems can couple carbon capture with renewable electricity and water treatment infrastructure and, in the long term, support more ambitious industrial and environmental remediation projects. However, progress—from early demonstrations to deployment at scale—hinges on a more nuanced understanding of electrochemical and transport phenomena in seawater, rigorous field validation, and identification of ecological risks. In this Perspective, the authors map the current portfolio of EC-ONETs, synthesize reported performance metrics, and outline their limitations and future opportunities.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Nature – Struve et al. (2026): South Pacific carbon uptake controlled by West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics

Torben Struve, Frank Lamy, Frederik Gäng, Johann P. Klages, Gerhard Kuhn, Oliver Esper, Lester Lembke-Jene and Gisela Winckler, IN: Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01911-0

Increased supply of the micronutrient iron promotes export production in the iron-limited Southern Ocean, thus acting as a dynamic sink of atmospheric CO₂ that has amplified past climate variations. This mechanism is typically considered to be regulated by the amount and solubility of iron delivered by aeolian transport. Here the authors use sedimentological and geochemical tracers to investigate iron input and carbon uptake in the largest sector of the Southern Ocean Antarctic Zone.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Yang & Feng (2026): Life Cycle Perspective-Based Modeling Assessment of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement

Chonggang Yang and Ellias Y. Feng, IN: Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c13054

The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is proposed and discussed to mitigate climate change. The authors modeled the life cycles of four types of OAE technologies (ocean liming, accelerated weathering of limestone, mineral carbonation–ocean liming, and coastal enhanced weathering) in an Earth system model and investigated their environmental impacts.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Chen et al. (2026): Shoot litter outweighs root inputs in building soil organic carbon during Spartina alterniflora invasion in a coastal wetland

Yamin Chen, Yanghui He, Lingyan Zhou, Peter M. Homyak, Guiyao Zhou, Kaiyan Zhai, Diandian Wei, Boyun Tian and Xuhui Zhou, IN: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110104

Coastal salt marsh wetlands are highly productive ecosystems with carbon (C) sequestration rates up to 40–50 times higher than forests, making them a major biome for climate change mitigation. However, plant invasions driven by human activities are altering vegetation composition, C allocation, decomposition dynamics, and ultimately the fate of soil organic C (SOC). Here the authors conducted a 4-year field-based mesocosm experiment to simulate the invasion of the C₄ plant, Spartina alterniflora Loisel, into C₃ plant-dominated coastal wetland soils and to quantify the relative contributions of above- and below-ground litter inputs to SOC formation.

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Paessler et al. (2026): Total Alkalinity, Electrical Conductivity and pH as Potential MRV Proxies for Enhanced Weathering

Dirk Paessler, Jens Steffen Hammes, Ingrid Smet, Anna Anke Stöckel, Melissa J Murphy, Ralf Steffens and Jens Hartmann, IN: ResearchGate, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23232.39688

In this document the authors take you on a guided tour through the extensive dataset that they have gathered from their greenhouse experiments over the time of 3 years in 2023/2024/2025. These experiments entail more than 400 lysimeters with combinations of various soils and feedstocks that they maintained and monitored in their greenhouse. Roughly once a month they emptied the lysimeters’ tanks and measured various parameters of the leachate.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hong et al. (2026): Carbon sequestration for geological negative emissions of the shale gas value chain in China

Pu Hong, Meiyu Guo, Sai Liang, Wenrui Shi, Yumeng Li and Xi Lu, IN: Nature Communications, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68829-y

Carbon sequestration in shale gas operations represents a crucial pathway to achieve Geological Negative Emissions, which is essential for global 1.5 °C targets. However, the emissions reduction potential and economic viability of this approach in China’s shale gas value chain remain unclear. This study quantifies the potential for transforming China’s shale gas value chain from an emission source to a carbon sink, while revealing spatial heterogeneity in economic feasibility.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Ansari (2026): Capacity Assessment and Climate Impact Analysis of the Aegis-1 Direct Air Capture and Carbon Utilization System

Mohammad Belal Ansari, IN: SSRN, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6007034

The continuous increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is the principal driver of global warming and long-term climate change. Despite significant progress in renewable energy deployment, energy efficiency improvements, and emission control policies, these mitigation strategies remain insufficient to address the large volume of CO₂ already accumulated in the atmosphere. Consequently, active carbon dioxide removal technologies have become an essential component of long-term climate stabilization efforts. Direct Air Capture (DAC) has emerged as a promising approach capable of extracting CO₂ directly from ambient air, independent of emission sources. This paper presents a conceptual and prototype-based assessment of Aegis-1, a modular Direct Air Capture and Carbon Utilization machine designed to process ambient air, selectively capture CO₂, and convert a fraction of the captured carbon into carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Tanaka et al. (2026): Atmospheric Methane Removal as a Third Climate Intervention: Termination Risks and Air Pollutant Effects

Katsumasa Tanaka, Weiwei Xiong, Didier A. Hauglustaine, Daniel J.A. Johansson, Nico Bauer, Philippe Bousquet, Philippe Ciais, Renaud de Richter, Marianne T. Lund, Ragnhild Skeie and Eric Zusman, IN: ArXiv, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.17462

Atmospheric Methane Removal (AMR) is a third class of climate intervention, along with Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). The authors show that, unlike CDR, the avoided warming by AMR is not durable due to methane’s short atmospheric lifetime, although its temperature rebound upon termination is less abrupt than that of SRM. AMR’s unique impact on air quality (tropospheric ozone) can be further modulated by background pollutant levels.

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