CO₂-removal News

Peer-reviewed Publications

Nature – Mathis et al. (2024): Enhanced CO2 uptake of the coastal ocean is dominated by biological carbon fixation

Moritz Mathis, Fabrice Lacroix, Stefan Hagemann, David Marcolino Nielsen, Tatiana Ilyina, Corinna Schrum IN: Nature Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01956-w

Observational reconstructions indicate a contemporary increase in coastal ocean CO2 uptake. However, the mechanisms and their relative importance in driving this globally intensifying absorption remain unclear. Here the authors integrate coastal carbon dynamics in a global model via regional grid refinement and enhanced process representation.

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Media

Exploring Durability Curves — An Enhanced Lens for Evaluating Carbon Removals

by Rick Berg, Radhika Moolgavkar, Nori, March 26, 2024

„The durability of sequestered carbon, and credits designed to represent it, has gotten a lot of focus in discussions around the voluntary carbon dioxide removal (CDR) markets and emerging mandatory carbon markets. This attention is well-deserved. Durability characteristics play a key role in the functioning of the markets, including how the carbon removal credits are used, the development of carbon insurance, the management of carbon credit portfolio risks, and the creation of credit ratings. „

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Nature – Hasler et al. (2024): Accounting for albedo change to identify climate-positive tree cover restoration

Natalia Hasler, Christopher A. Williams, Vanessa Carrasco Denney, Peter W. Ellis, Surendra Shrestha, Drew E. Terasaki Hart, Nicholas H. Wolff, Samantha Yeo, Thomas W. Crowther, Leland K. Werden & Susan C. Cook-Patton IN: Nature Communications, 15, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46577-1

Restoring tree cover changes albedo, which is the fraction of sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface. In most locations, these changes in albedo offset or even negate the carbon removal benefits with the latter leading to global warming. Previous efforts to quantify the global climate mitigation benefit of restoring tree cover have not accounted robustly for albedo given a lack of spatially explicit data. Here the authors produce maps that show that carbon-only estimates may be up to 81% too high.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Nature – Zhao et al. (2024): Trade-offs in land-based carbon removal measures under 1.5°C and 2°C futures

Xin Zhao, Bryan K. Mignone, Marshall A. Wise, Haewon C. McJeon IN: Nature Communications, 15, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46575-3

Land-based carbon removals, specifically afforestation/reforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), vary widely in 1.5°C and 2°C scenarios generated by integrated assessment models. Because underlying drivers are difficult to assess, the authors use a well-known integrated assessment model, GCAM, to demonstrate that land-based carbon removals are sensitive to the strength and scope of land-based mitigation policies. 

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Feng et al. (2024): Quantifying the environmental synergistic effect of cooling-air purification-carbon sequestration from urban forest in China

Rundong Feng, Shenghe Liu, Fuyuan Wang, Kaiyong Wang, Ping Gao, Linlin Xu IN: Journal of Cleaner Production, 448, 141514, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141514

Urban forest is considered nature-based solution for mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. However, large-scale quantification of urban forest synergistic effect is still limited. This study integrated multi-source remote sensing data, machine learning, and geospatial methods to quantify the synergistic effect (i.e., spatial interaction) of urban forest on urban heat island, PM2.5 concentration, and carbon stock and its driving mechanism in China.

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Science-Policy Documents

Report: Charting a Course for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR): Policy Sequencing in mCDR Development

by Jasmine Yu, Savita Bowman, clearpath, March 2024

This report (1) identifies policies to support each innovation stage of mCDR technologies: early-stage R&D, widescale deployment and commercialization, (2) highlights the growing U.S. federal engagement and resources for mCDR and (3) describes policies that could create the conditions for successful wide-scale mCDR deployment,
dependent on the findings from R&D field trials.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Zhang et al. (2024): Soil organic carbon increase via microbial assimilation or soil protection against the priming effect is mediated by the availability of soil N relative to input C

Futao Zhang, Qianqian Wang, Yueling Zhang, Shuihong Yao, Qinhua Wang, Georges Ndzana, Ute Hamer, Yakov Kuzyakov, Bin Zhang IN: Geoderma, 444, 116861, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.116861

Labile C inputs into soils will be partially transformed into soil organic carbon (SOC) through microbial assimilation or physicochemical protection as such mineral-organic interactions and soil aggregation. The C inputs may stimulate the decomposition of native SOC, inducing a phenomenon known as the priming effect. Increasing C inputs may increase SOC content, yet the relative role of these mechanisms in controlling the magnitudes of SOC increase among soils remains unclear. Four soils differing in microbiology and N content were incubated with 13C-labeled glucose at the amounts of 0.5 (G0.5), 1.0 (G1.0), and 2.0 (G2.0) g C kg−1 soil for 48 days. The objectives of this study were 1) to quantify the fates of added glucose-C, the priming effect, and the changes in SOC and mineral N contents after the incubation, and 2) to identify the main mechanisms for SOC increase with the increased amount of C input and the effects of initial soil N availability and microbial composition.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Serafimova & Dedelyanova (2024): The Potential For Carbon Sequestration In Reclaimed Mine Soil

Ekaterina Serafimova, Kremena Dedelyanova IN: Journal of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, https://doi.org/10.59957/jctm.v59.i2.2024.20

Mining sector has been the central attention of the business and public policy sustainable development scheme for several years. Reclamation territories are with potential carbon sequestration capacity in degraded mining areas and can be an impeccable option for achieving sustainable development goal-13. This paper made an investigation about the presence of heavy metals in reclaimed area possibilities to improve reclaimed soils with biochar with idea to enhance ecosystem carbon pool and atmospheric CO2 sequestration capacity to offset CO2 emission and soil organic carbon losses.

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Science-Policy Documents

Envisioning a carbon removal strategy for Europe

Carbon Gap, March 18, 2024

Carbon Gap offers 18 actionable policy recommendations for how the EU could support carbon removal over the next thirty years as part of an EU carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy. The recommendations are spread across four key “pillars” that should be pursued collectively to deliver effective and just CDR: creating fair and inclusive governance, prioritising research, development and innovation, introducing dedicated deployment incentives. The recommendations provided under each of these pillars would help grow the pool of potential CDR methods, test the viability of scaling promising, yet high-cost methods, and secure future demand for CDR.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Abraham et al (2024): Large-scale shipping of low-carbon fuels and carbon dioxide towards decarbonized energy systems: Perspectives and challenges

Elizabeth J. Abraham, Patrick Linke, Ma’moun Al-Rawashdeh, Joseph Rousseau, Gareth Burton, Dhabia M. Al-Mohannadi IN: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.03.140

Carbon dioxide is also expected to become an important maritime trade commodity to achieve climate targets. Through the deployment of carbon capture utilization and storage, and more recently, negative emission technologies, carbon dioxide will need to be transported to regions with the appropriate infrastructure and resources necessary for their anticipated implementation. Presently, in light of these circumstances, the lack of experience in shipping a number of these energy carriers and carbon dioxide must be addressed. As such, an understanding of the techno-economic and environmental feasibility of the large-scale shipping of these commodities must be established at all scales of operation. Accordingly, this work proposes the use of process systems engineering based approaches to enable the marine transportation of these future energy carriers and carbon dioxide from a multi-scale perspective. 

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