CO2-removal News

Peer-reviewed Publications

Liu et al. (2026): Electrified reversible surface mineralization of CO₂ for direct air capture

Zeyan Liu, Huajie Ze, Bosi Peng, Charles B. Musgrave III, Mohammad K. Shehab, Hyun Seung Jung, Hengzhou Liu, Kent O. Kirlikovali, William A. Goddard III, Omar K. Farha, Ke Xie and Edward H. Sargent, IN: Nature Energy, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-01989-9

Electrified CO₂ capture and release from air offers net-negative emissions, but today’s liquid-carbonate-based systems have a high energy cost (6–10 GJ per ton of CO₂), and organic sorbents are oxygen sensitive. Here the authors report electrified CO₂ surface mineralization/demineralization capture/release, wherein an inorganic capture sorbent, MnO₂, is electrochemically reduced/activated to generate Mn(III), which mineralizes CO₂ to form MnOOCO₂H (operando Raman); the process is reversed under oxidative potential.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Tu et al. (2026): Scaling up enhanced rock weathering for equitable climate change mitigation

Ying Tu, Radine Rafols, Yangyang Xu, Natalia Butler, Linah Ababneh, Feng Tao, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Benjamin Z. Houlton and Chuan Liao, IN: Communications Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44458-026-00034-w

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is an emerging approach to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while improving soil health and crop productivity. Yet its long-term climate impact remains uncertain due to limited understanding of how adoption will evolve across regions, income groups, and in response to a warming world. Here, the authors combine historical analogs of technological diffusion with a coupled human–nature feedback model to provide spatially explicit projections of global ERW adoption through 2100.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Yaseen et al. (2026): Forest blue carbon sink accounting: methodological advancements and uncertainty analysis

Muhammad Yaseen, Waseem Razzaq Khan, Ping Li, Farhan Khalid, Umair Ahmed, Kashif Ali Solangi, Lingxiao Li, Marina Gul, Saraj Bahadur, Haider Sultan and Xiaoshan Zhu, IN: Journal of Forestry Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-026-01992-6

Mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes represent key Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) that serve as vital carbon sinks, playing a crucial role in climate change mitigation. However, accurately quantifying blue carbon sequestration in these ecosystems remains challenging due to diverse environmental conditions, inconsistent methodologies, and substantial uncertainties. With the increasing urgency of global climate targets, reliable accounting methods are important for shaping policies and integrating blue carbon into carbon markets. In light of current needs, this review examined a range of carbon accounting methods, including isotopic methods, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Remote Sensing (RS), modeling approaches (e.g., DeNitrification–DeComposition model (DNDC) and climate models), direct measurements (e.g., biomass sampling and eddy covariance), and Machine Learning (ML).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Sovacool (2026): Climate change interventions at the “top of the world”: exploring risk–risk tradeoffs in Arctic coastal protection and forest carbon removal in Alaska

Benjamin Sovacool, IN: Frontiers in Political Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2026.1695743

Alaska, the largest geographic state in the United States, experiences climate change and global warming two to three times that of the global average, leading to thawing permafrost, wildfires, and more severe storms. However, managing climate interventions in Alaska is riddled with challenges that threaten to create risk–risk tradeoffs. Based on semi-structured expert interviews (N = 24), site visits in Alaska (N = 3), and photography, including within one Indigenous group in the Arctic Circle, this study investigates the concept of risk–risk tradeoffs involved in Arctic climate interventions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Anand et al. (2026): Soil Structure and Mixing Controls on Water-Rock Contact: Implications for Enhanced Weathering

Shashank Kumar Anand, Matteo Bertagni, Felipe Aburto and Salvatore Calabrese, IN: Water Resources Research, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR041479

Enhanced weathering (EW), the addition of finely ground silicate rock powder (RP) to soil, has emerged as a promising carbon removal strategy. However, quantifying weathering rates in soils remains challenging, as most continuum-scale EW models do not adequately account for the fraction of RP surface area (SA) that is wet at a given soil moisture and thus actively weathering. Here, the authors study how soil pore structure, RP particle size distribution, and RP mixing degree within the soil control water-rock contact. Using a soil-physics-based framework, they derive a scaling factor that quantifies the wet fraction of RP SA as a function of soil moisture and mixing degree within soil pores.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Wu et al. (2026): Direct Air Capture (DAC) and CO₂ Sequestration with Waste Brine Using a Novel Sorbent at Ambient Temperature

Xinkai Wu, Hao Chen, Haibo Liu and Arup K. SenGupta, IN: Carbon Capture Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccst.2026.100584

There is a global consensus that CO₂ capture and sequestration should continue at an accelerated pace to meet the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) recommendation in lowering the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. In recent years, deployment of direct air capture (DAC) has been on the rise through use of solid sorbents. In this study, the authors present for the first time a new DAC process that eliminates the need for geological storage and thermal desorption.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Dong et al. (2026): Biochar for simultaneous soil remediation and carbon sequestration: application, mechanism, and development prospect – a comprehensive review

Yingbo Dong, Xujiao Guan and Hai Lin, IN: Environmental Earth Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-026-12834-3

Biochar, as a carbon-enriched porous material obtained via pyrolysis of biomass in anoxic environments, exhibits significant potential for application in soil remediation and carbon cycle management due to its unique physicochemical properties. This article reviews the application and action mechanism of biochar in the remediation of heavy metals and organic pollutants contaminated soils, and the effects of carbon sequestration.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Fakhraee (2026): Blue carbon ecosystems and coral reefs as coupled nature-based climate solutions

Mojtaba Fakhraee, IN: Nature Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01768-0

Restoring coastal ecosystems offers more than just carbon storage: it can also help bring coral reefs back to life. This Perspective explores how the carbon captured by mangroves and other blue carbon systems could be used to support reef restoration, creating a powerful synergy between climate action and marine conservation.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Li et al. (2026): Alkaline materials for coastal ocean alkalinity enhancement: A comparative study of natural silicates and industrial byproducts

Xinyu Li, Zhe Zhou, Heng Xiao, Jiangtao Li and Shouye Yang, IN: Marine Pollution Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119338

Coastal ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a promising ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approach for mitigating climate change and counteracting ocean acidification. However, uncertainties persist regarding the efficacy and environmental safety of alkaline materials under realistic coastal conditions. This study comparatively investigated the CO₂ sequestration potential, geochemical processes, and environmental impacts of four alkaline materials—natural silicates (olivine, basalt) and industrial byproducts (fly ash, steel slag)—through laboratory incubations with natural seawater (filtered and unfiltered) and in situ deployments off the East China Sea.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Trapp-Müller et al. (2026): Silicate weathering in marine sediments: processes, governing factors, and role in global elemental cycles

Gerrit Trapp-Müller, Robert C. Aller, Appy Sluijs and Jack J Middelburg, IN: ESS Open Archive, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.177032866.61920613/v1

Silicate weathering occurs across marine sediments with a spectrum of reaction balances and fluxes, influencing seawater chemistry and carbon cycling on long timescales. Fluxes range from net alkalinity and cation consumption (‘reverse’ weathering) to net alkalinity and cation release (‘forward’ weathering), varying across depositional environments and locally with depth and time. Here, the authors review the research history, mechanisms and biogeochemistry of silicate weathering in marine sediments. They then examine the distribution of marine sediment sources (reactants), depositional environments (biogeochemical, physical), and authigenic mineral suites (products) from the coast to the deep sea to assemble representative reaction balances and rate estimates.

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