CO2-removal News

Macreadie et al. (2025): A critical analysis of marine carbon sequestration opportunities in South Korea

Peter I. Macreadie, Finnley W. R. Ross, Carlos M. Duarte, Ji Won Hong, Ho-Sung Yoon, IN: PLOS Climate, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000591

South Korea has made significant commitments to pursuing marine carbon sequestration [including ‘blue carbon’] initiatives as part of its broader environmental and climate strategies. Specifically, the South Korean government has set a target to sequester 1,362,000 tonnes of CO₂ in the ocean by 2050 as part of its national strategy. Here, leveraging available data, the authors outline potential measures to achieve this goal, and provide critical insights into the scale and feasibility of marine carbon sequestration initiatives to inform policymakers and industry stakeholders. They investigated a wide range of potential approaches, ranging from traditional blue carbon approaches involving conservation and restoration of seagrass meadows and tidal marshes; to emerging strategies involving seaweed farming and mudflat restoration; to geoengineering interventions involving ocean alkalinity enhancement.

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Nature – Kinnunen et al. (2025): Assessing the implications of EU Nature Restoration Law targets from carbon sequestration and biodiversity perspectives in a high-green urban environment

Antti Kinnunen, Ranja Hautamäki, Jaana B. Junnila, Joel Jalkanen, Leena Järvi, Liisa Kulmala, Jussi Lampinen, Minttu Havu, Seppo Junnila & Christopher Raymond, IN: NPJ Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00213-z

In response to the urgent environmental crises, the European Union has intensified legislative actions, including the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). The NRL provides a framework aimed at halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss across the EU. A pivotal element of the NRL is Article 8, dedicated to the restoration of urban ecosystems. While the outlined land use measures limit environmental degradation, they also raise concerns about how cities will manage these requirements with a simultaneously growing population. The authors examine the potential implications of the NRL on carbon sequestration and biodiversity in Helsinki, Finland, assessing the impacts under various urban development scenarios.

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Jain et al. (2025): South Asia’s Ecosystems Are a Net Carbon Sink, But the Region Is a Major Net GHG Source to the Atmosphere

Atul K. Jain, Seetharaman Seshadri, Jatin Anand, Naveen Chandra, Prabir K. Patra, Josep G. Canadell, Abha Chhabra, Philippe Ciais, Hammad Gilani, Murali K. Gumma, Masayuki Kondo, Erandathie Lokupitiya, Naiqing Pan, Him Lal Shrestha, Baktiar N. Siddiqui, Hanqin Tian, Yogesh K. Tiwari, IN: Global Biogeochemical Cycles, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GB008261

As part of the REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes-2 (RECCAP-2) project of the Global Carbon Project, here the authors estimate the GHG budgets (anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks) for the South Asia (SA) region as a whole and each country (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) for the decade of 2010–2019 (2010s). Countries in the region are experiencing a rapid rise in fossil fuel consumption and demand for agricultural land, leading to increased deforestation and higher greenhouse gas emissions. This study synthesizes top-down (TD) and bottom-up (BU) dynamic global vegetation model results, BU GHG inventories, ground-based observation upscaling, and direct emissions for major GHGs. The fluxes for carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) analyzed include fossil fuel emissions, net biome productivity, land use change, inland waters, wetlands, and upland and submerged soils.

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Timmermann et al. (2025): Harnessing microbes to weather native silicates in agricultural soils for scalable carbon dioxide removal

Tania Timmermann, Christopher Yip, Yun-Ya Yang, Kimberly A. Wemmer, Anupam Chowdhury, Daniel Dores, Taichi Takayama, Sharon Nademanee, Bjorn A. Traag, Kazem Zamanian, Bernardo González, Daniel O. Breecker, Noah Fierer, Eric W. Slessarev, Gonzalo A. Fuenzalida-Meriz, IN: Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70216

Anthropogenic carbon emissions contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect, resulting in global warming and climate change. Thus, addressing this critical issue requires innovative and comprehensive solutions. Silicate weathering moderates atmospheric CO₂ levels over geological time, but it occurs too slowly to counteract anthropogenic emissions effectively. Here, the authors show that the microorganism Bacillus subtilis strain MP1 promotes silicate weathering across different experimental setups with various levels of complexity.

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Yagih & Managi (2025): Soil organic carbon credits from turf and clover planting beneath solar panels

Michiyuki Yagih and Shunsuke Managi, IN: Environmental Challenges, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2025.101153

Although Japan’s forests cover approximately two-thirds of its land area and offer potential for improved management, new large-scale afforestation efforts face substantial constraints, highlighting the need for alternative methods to enhance soil organic carbon. This study investigates whether planting turf and clover beneath solar panels can increase soil carbon and reduce erosion. Over two years in Okayama Prefecture, seeds and a binder solution containing fiber and fertilizer were applied to bare ground.

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Nature – Wang et al. (2025): A Dataset for Investigations of Amine-Impregnated Solid Adsorbent for Direct Air Capture

Eryu Wang, Liping Luo, Jiachuan Wang, Jiaxin Dai, Shuangyin Li, Lei Chen & Jia Li, IN: Scientific Data, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-05037-1

Amine-impregnated solid adsorbents are widely explored for point source capture and direct air capture (DAC) to address climate change. Existing literature serves as a valuable source for the investigation of amine-functionalized solid adsorbents. This study selected 52 articles from bibliographic platforms using GPT-assisted data source screening.

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Chen et al. (2025): Rise in wetland carbon uptake linked to increased potential evapotranspiration

Jiankun Chen, Zhuangsheng Tang, Xiaoyan Kang, Nianpeng He, Mingxu Li, IN: Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121778

Precisely assessing wetland net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is important for accurately evaluating global carbon budgets. However, constrained by the quality of observational data and insufficient understanding of driving mechanisms, assessments of China’s wetland NEP still have considerable uncertainties. Therefore, this study assessed continuous observations from 30 eddy covariance flux towers across various wetland types in China and applied the random forest (RF) model to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of China’s wetland NEP.

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Cui et al. (2025): Long-Term Carbon Sequestration and Climatic Responses of Plantation Forests Across Jiangsu Province, China

Yuxue Cui, Miaomiao Wu, Zhongyi Lin, Yizhao Chen and Honghua Ruan IN: MDPI Forests, https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/16/5/756

Understanding the long-term trend in Plantation forests(PF) carbon uptake capacity and the key drivers influencing it is crucial for optimizing PF management and planning for climate mitigation. In this study, the authors quantified the long-term (1981–2019) carbon sequestration of PFs in Jiangsu Province, where PFs have expanded considerably in recent decades, particularly since 2015. Seasonal and interannual variations in gross primary productivity (GPP), net primary productivity (NPP), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) were assessed using the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS), a process-based terrestrial biogeochemical model.

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Jiao et al. (2025): Carbon dioxide removal dilemma of macroalgae products: Evidence from carbon footprint and profitability

Tingting Jiao, Ellias Yuming Feng, Yongfu Li, Yajun Tian IN: Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.144870

Macroalgae can bio-sequester atmospheric CO2 into their biomass, thus it has been proposed and debated as a viable carbon dioxide removal strategy to mitigate climate change. The authors examine the carbon footprints of common macroalgae products through a “cradle-to-grave” life cycle assessment, and find carbon sequestration effect can only be accomplished by some specific macroalgae product types when they are properly stored rather than being used. They identify the product processing and usage stages in macroalgae’s life cycle contribute most carbon emissions, while the net primary production of macroalgae during growth only partially neutralizes its overall CO2emissions.

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Keiner et al. (2025): Area demand quantification for energy system-integrated negative emissions based on carbon dioxide removal portfolios

Dominik Keiner, Andreas Mühlbauer, Christoph Gerhards and Christian Breyer, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adccd9

If climate change mitigation is based on energy crops, the impact of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) on area demand may be significant. The CDR-specific area demand is usually not presented. This study compares a CDR technology portfolio prioritising biomass-based solutions to portfolios prioritising low cost, low energy demand, high security, low area demand, and high technology readiness in terms of area demand. The CDR portfolio model is linked with an energy system model to include the area required for solar photovoltaics and wind power for the energy supply of the whole energy–industry–CDR system.

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