CO2-removal News

Peer-reviewed Publications

Noor et al. (2026): Human-induced biospheric carbon sink: Impact from the Taklamakan Afforestation Project

Salma Noor, Xun Jiang, Xinyue Wang, Jiani Yang, Sally Newman, King-Fai Li, Liming Li, Le Yu, Xiyu Li and Yuk L Yung, IN: PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41557807/

The Taklamakan Desert, one of the world’s largest and driest deserts, has traditionally been considered a biological void. Here, the authors demonstrate that large-scale ecological restoration is transforming this hyperarid environment into a carbon sink.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maxbauer et al. (2026): Evidence for carbon dioxide removal via enhanced rock weathering with steel slag, though not basalt, in a midwestern U.S. field trial

Daniel P. Maxbauer, Ella Milliken, Jahmaine Renzo Yambing, Emma Watson, Rachel B. Gregg, Liza Swanson, Jaeeun Sohng, Noah W. Sokol and Noah J. Planavsky, IN: Frontiers in Climate, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2025.1657058

Enhanced weathering is an emergent pathway for permanent atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR). However, despite a dramatic increase in academic and commercial research, there remain relatively few published examples of field evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of enhanced weathering. Here, the authors present results from a three-year field trial that evaluated steel slag and crushed basalt applied as amendments in a conventional agricultural system in the Midwestern United States. Steel slag applied to initially acidic soil increased porewater pH and alkalinity and increased soil pH and Ca-saturation. Together, changes in porewater chemistry and soil properties provide strong evidence for steel slag weathering and CDR. However, steel slag applied to soils with a neutral initial pH did not generate significant changes in soil or porewater chemistry. In addition, coarse-grained crushed basalt did not generate significant change in any of the soils. Strong acid effects were apparent in all 3 years of monitoring soil porewater chemistry.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Shi et al. (2026): Renewable energy vs. direct air capture and utilization at the macroeconomic level: A Computable General Equilibrium analysis in Japan

Bo Shi, Alexander Ryota Keeley and Shunsuke Managi, IN: Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.147536

Mitigating global warming relies on a combination of carbon pricing and the development of renewable energy (RE) and negative emission technologies. RE is a completely clean energy source to replace traditional fossil fuels, and direct air capture (DAC) can effectively reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. With technological advancement, membrane-based DAC with utilization of gas conversion (DAC-U) shows potential for carbon abatement; however, research into the large-scale deployment of DAC remains insufficient at the macroeconomic level. Furthermore, carbon pricing’s potential negative impact on the large-scale deployment of DAC-U and its effects on RE development remain underexplored.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Gooding (2026): Geochemistry of carbon sequestration through woody biomass burial

James L. Gooding, IN: Geosciences, https://www.doi.org/10.3934/geosci.2026003

Apparent mechanisms and rates of wood decay under natural geologic burial can be reconciled with general principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, including effects of biotic intermediaries on reaction pathways. A simplified two-step decay model for woody biomass burial (WBB) involves the hydrolysis of wood biopolymers to release monomers, which then decompose into CO₂ or CH₄. Gibbs free energy values for individual reactions indicate that (a) biopolymer hydrolysis follows a stability sequence of lignin >> cellulose > hemicellulose, and (b) monomer decomposition is driven more strongly toward CO₂ (compared with CH₄) unless biological intervention occurs. Key variables are wood composition, water activity, oxygen activity, and enzymatic activity (from bacteria or fungi) under different burial conditions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Grosselindemann et al. (2026): The efficiency and ocean acidification mitigation potential of ocean alkalinity enhancement on multi-centennial timescales

Hendrik Grosselindemann, Friedrich A. Burger and Thomas L. Frölicher, IN: EGUSphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-255

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies such as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) are likely required in addition to rapid emissions reductions to limit global warming to well below 2 °C. However, the long-term efficiency of OAE and its potential to mitigate climate change and ocean acidification remain uncertain. Here, the authors investigate efficiencies, climate and ocean acidification responses of idealized OAE using a fully coupled, emission-driven Earth system model across three global warming stabilization scenarios (1.5 °C, 2 °C, and 3 °C) spanning 1861–2500. OAE is implemented as a continuous global surface alkalinity addition of 0.14 Pmol yr⁻¹ following the CDRMIP protocol from 2026 onward.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Cui et al. (2026): Using Carbon Dioxide Removal for a Habitable Post-2050 Net-Zero Emission World: Contributions and Limitations

Xin Cui, Jianping Li and Ellias Yuming Feng, IN: Journal of Earth System Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-026-6228-5

United Nations (UN) encourages sovereign states to take prompt and concrete measures to accomplish net-zero emissions by year 2050, requesting carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to be prepared and implemented in such ambitious climate action roadmap. However, whether CDR technologies should be further promoted or discontinued post net-zero emission year remains unclear. In this Earth-system modelling research, the authors compare UN-suggested 2050 net-zero emission scenario against other common climate mitigation scenarios outlined by shared social-economic pathways (SSPs). They also simulate continued CDR implementations after net-zero emissions, which is hypothetically achieved in year 2050 and 2070 respectively, to investigate how CDR can impact the global climate throughout the whole 21st and 22nd centuries.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Cabiyo et al. (2026): Consistent temporal accounting supports credible CDR use

Bodie Cabiyo, Freya Chay, Christopher Field, Kevin Fingerman, Zeke Hausfather, Kyle S Hemes and Claire Marie Zarakas, IN: CDR.Xiv, https://doi.org/10.70212/cdrxiv.2026302v1

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is increasingly used to support national targets and corporate net-zero commitments, yet the timing of atmospheric drawdown remains poorly represented in carbon accounting frameworks. Many CDR pathways exhibit temporal lags—either because drawdown occurs only after physical or counterfactual processes unfold, or because excess emissions are incurred before CDR begins. Using the FaIR climate model, the authors quantify the warming implications of four archetypal lag structures. Temporal lags consistently increase near-term warming relative to instantaneous removal and delay the point of atmospheric neutralization when used to offset fossil emissions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Rhymes et al. (2026): Harnessing peatland rewetting for effective biochar-based carbon dioxide removal

Jennifer M. Rhymes, Niall P. McNamara, Davey L. Jones, Fabrizio Albanito and Chris D. Evans, IN: Carbon Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-025-00524-5

Biochar is widely recognised as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology, but its stability depends on feedstock, pyrolysis conditions, and the soil environment. Current CDR schemes prioritise highly stable biochars to ensure long-term permanence, requiring high pyrolysis temperatures that reduce carbon yield and intensify competition for biomass. This perspective explores potential synergies between two distinct CDR approaches, biochar application and peatland rewetting, where rewetted peatlands could enhance biochar permanence by suppressing microbial decomposition, offering a means to improve both carbon retention and resource efficiency.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Aviso et al. (2026): Indirect carbon emissions of enhanced weathering in Malaysia

Kathleen B. Aviso, Dominic C.Y. Foo, Ivan Henderson V. Gue, Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang, Raymond R. Tan and Yin Ling Tan, IN: Carbon Footprints, hppts://www.doi.org/10.20517/cf.2025.54

Enhanced weathering (EW) of rocks and minerals can be used as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technique. EW relies on accelerated geochemical reactions between carbonic acid in rainwater and slightly alkaline minerals to permanently sequester carbon atoms as bicarbonate ions in runoff water. The material needs to be crushed into a fine powder to increase its reactive surface area and then spread on land at a rate calibrated to local weather and soil conditions. However, large-scale EW using virgin material will increase outputs and carbon footprints across various economic sectors to support the CDR system. Input-output analysis is used to model such indirect effects when basalt EW is used in all oil palm plantations in Malaysia to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Nature – Mather et al. (2026): Carbon emissions along divergent plate boundaries modulate icehouse-greenhouse climates

Ben R. Mather, R. Dietmar Müller, Adriana Dutkiewicz and Sabin Zahirovic, IN: Communications Earth & Environment, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03097-0

The exchange of carbon between oceanic plates, the deep Earth, and the atmosphere plays a significant role in modulating global climate. Icehouse-greenhouse climate fluctuations have been attributed to changes in palaeogeography and solid Earth degassing, particularly along continental arcs, to arc weathering and to the sequestration of carbon into oceanic carbonate-rich sediments. However, the proportions of these contributions and their effect on modulating global climate are poorly constrained. Here the authors show that the changing balance between volcanic outgassing and carbon sequestration into oceanic lithosphere is the key driver for major climate shifts.

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