CO2-removal News

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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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hopkins & Lal (2026): Carbon dioxide removal by enhanced concrete weathering in soil

Brittany Multer Hopkins and Rattan Lal, IN: Technologies in Engineering and Environment for Global Impact, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teengi.2026.100068

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal from the atmosphere is necessary to reduce negative impacts from climate change, and one method could be using waste concrete for enhanced concrete weathering (ECW), a subset of enhanced weathering.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Cheng et al. (2026): Life cycle assessment of bamboo residue management pathways: Biochar and alternatives for carbon sequestration and circular economy

Hsiang-Wei Cheng, Sébastien Bonnet and Shabbir H. Gheewala, IN: Sustainable Production and Consumption, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2026.01.004

The increasing utilization of bamboo as a sustainable resource has driven the rapid expansion of bamboo-based industries, resulting in significant residue generation that is often managed unsustainably through open burning. This study presents a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of four management scenarios: open burning (baseline), biochar-to-soil, biomass-to-energy, and pellet-to-energy based on a functional unit of 1000 t of bamboo residue treated.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Rieder et al. (2026): Contribution of dissolved organic carbon to total alkalinity in Enhanced Weathering experiments

Lukas Rieder, Mathilde Hagens, Reinaldy Poetra, Alix Vidal, Tullia Calogiuri et al., IN: Applied Geochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2026.106685

In this study, the authors tested how dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contributes to non-carbonate alkalinity (ANC) using microcosm experiments with artificial organo-mineral mixtures. They used different combinations of rock powder with straw, microbes and earthworm additions, under ambient air conditions. The microcosms were flow-through columns placed in a climate chamber at 25 °C, which were irrigated with groundwater at rates between 1200 and 3600 mm/yr. The concentrations of several low-molecular-weight organic acids (oxalate, citrate, acetate, gluconate) were quantified to assess which conjugate base anions impact the measured TA.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Lee et al. (2026): Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal and Storage

Chang-Ho Lee, Adam V. Subhas, Ju-Hyoung Kim and Kitack Lee, IN: Chemical Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5c00433

Direct observations indicate that the global ocean has a net carbon uptake of 2.6–3.0 petagrams of carbon annually, representing nearly 30% of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. This review examines two principal domains of oceanic carbon cycling. The first concerns the natural uptake and storage of anthropogenic CO₂, with emphasis on the response of the marine carbonate system and the spatial distribution of absorbed carbon. The second addresses emerging marine CO₂ removal strategies, especially ocean alkalinity enhancement and macroalgae-based approaches.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Bednar et al. (2026): Stabilizing time-lagged climate impacts requires net-negative emissions for centuries

Johannes Bednar, Artem Baklanov, Justin Macinante, Jim W. Hall, Thomas Gasser and Michael Obersteiner, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae34ca

In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed that States must prevent significant harm to the environment, including the climate system. Some of the most critical climate impacts, such as sea level rise (SLR) and permafrost thaw (PFT), will intensify for centuries even under 1.5–2 °C stabilization. In the terms expressed by the ICJ, the authors argue a duty exists to pursue stabilization of impacts at the lowest attainable levels. Using ensembles from a coupled integrated assessment and earth system model emulator, they show that achieving this requires sustained global net-negative CO₂ emissions well beyond the 23rd century.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Favero & Austin (2026): Charting our forest future: national supply curves for forest-based CO₂ mitigation

Alice Favero and Kemen G. Austin, IN: Nature Portfolio, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00335-9

Forests currently store more carbon in their vegetation and soil than all of the carbon in earth’s atmosphere. But how much additional CO₂ can be removed and sequestered by forests in the future, and at what cost? This study examines the potential and costs of forest-based mitigation in 215 countries, utilizing a dynamic economic model, FAO data, and new estimates of feasible area and pace of forest restoration.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Moras et al. (2026): Impacts of water advection and CO₂ exchanges on the carbon dioxide removal potential of ocean alkalinity enhancement

Charly A. Moras, Matias Saez Moreno, Peggy Bartsch, and Jens Hartmann, IN: EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6144

Ocean alkalinity enhancement is a carbon dioxide removal strategy with high CO₂ uptake potential and rather low cost. Long term modelling studies have focused on this strategy, but most laboratory experiments focus on shorter term with strong advection, which may not be representative of natural systems. Hence, the long-term fate of alkalinity is yet to be addressed. Also, the role of CO₂ ingassing is still largely overlooked. In a new setup, 6-month experiments using solid Ca(OH)₂ and Mg(OH)₂, and liquid NaOH have been conducted with a constant supply of CO₂.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Tang et al. (2026): Tropical forest carbon sequestration accelerated by nitrogen

Wenguang Tang, Jefferson S. Hall, Oliver L. Phillips, Roel J. W. Brienen, S. Joseph Wright, Michelle Y. Wong, Lars O. Hedin, Michiel van Breugel, Joseph B. Yavitt, Phillip M. Hannam and Sarah A. Batterman, IN: Nature Communications, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66825-2

Understanding forest carbon sequestration is crucial for predicting and managing the carbon cycle, yet the authors lack evidence for whether, when and how the carbon sink in tropical forests recovering from land use change is nutrient limited. Here they show how the tropical forest recovery rate responds to experimental nutrient manipulation over a secondary succession gradient in a naturally recovering Central American landscape.

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