Schlagwort: negative emissions

Peer-reviewed Publications

Xu et al. (2026): A pathway to next-generation direct air capture using adsorbents

Yifei Xu, Qiyuan Li, Bingqiao Xie, Zixin Zhang et al., IN: Joule, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2026.102587

Direct air capture (DAC) provides a path to regulate the atmospheric CO₂ concentration and mitigate global warming. However, the scaling of DAC technology faces significant challenges in energy consumption and capture costs. Limited engineering experience and a lack of comprehensive design guidelines lead to significant knowledge gaps among researchers, engineers, and policymakers. This review identifies four critical engineering bottlenecks, summarizes cutting-edge solutions, and envisions future scenarios with matured DAC. The importance of contactor design and heat management for reducing energy consumption is highlighted, together with the necessity of system integration for improving techno-economic viability. Overall, this review seeks promising solutions and advocates blooming ideas to enhance practicability and scalability of adsorption DAC.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Engstam et al. (2026): Biogas-based hydrogen production and carbon dioxide removal: Techno-economic and climate impact assessment

Linus Engstam, Gülru Bulkan, Leandro Janke, Cecilia Sundberg and Åke Nordberg, IN: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.156625

Biohydrogen produced from biogas combined with carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can provide renewable energy whilst generating negative emissions. This study evaluates production costs and climate impacts of biogas-based hydrogen via steam methane reforming (SMR), electrified SMR (e-SMR), and plasma methane pyrolysis (PMP), together with CDR based on either CO₂ or solid carbon, across three production scales.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Çakanel (2026): Integrity-first control of direct air capture systems under carbon certifiability constraints

Ahmet Çakanel, IN: Applied Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2026.128430

Direct air capture (DAC) systems are increasingly deployed with the goal of delivering net-negative carbon emissions through permanent CO₂ storage or utilization. However, capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere does not guarantee that the removal remains certifiable under conservative measurement–reporting–verification (MRV) frameworks. Grid electricity with variable carbon intensity, auxiliary power demand, and MRV uncertainty margins interact during cyclic operation to create transient periods of net-positive emissions that accumulate as a liability over time. This cumulative liability, referred to as carbon debt, must remain bounded relative to physical capture if reported removals are to be defensible under third-party verification standards. This study introduces Carbon-Integrity-Constrained Control (CICC), a supervisory framework that treats carbon certifiability as an operational constraint enforced in real time, rather than as a retrospective accounting adjustment. Admissible operation is characterized by a bounded debt-to-capture ratio (δ≤δmax).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Moustafa et al. (2026): Review of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Progress, Challenges, and Future Outlook

Nadine Tamer Moustafa, Nishikawa Emily, Koen H. Van Dam, Jennifer F. Holak, Sergey Paltsev, Mai Bui, Sean McCoy and Niall Mac Dowell, IN: SSRN (Preprint), https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7076303

Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is one of the few carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches consistently represented at gigatonne scale in climate mitigation scenarios. However, real-world deployment remains limited, and significant uncertainties persist regarding its feasibility at scale. This review synthesises current evidence on BECCS across technological pathways, biomass supply, lifecycle emissions, infrastructure requirements, and policy and market frameworks.The analysis highlights that BECCS performance is highly pathway-dependent, with substantial variation in carbon efficiency, CO₂ stream characteristics, and technological maturity across thermochemical and biological routes. Beyond technology, biomass availability emerges as a primary constraint. Estimates of global supply are highly sensitive to land-use assumptions, and sustainability-constrained scenarios suggest significantly lower availability. Infrastructure and spatial constraints introduce additional challenges. Biomass resources, geological storage capacity, and demand for negative emissions are not co-located, implying reliance on transport networks, cross-border trade, and coordinated infrastructure expansion.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Chen et al. (2026): Direct air capture integrated with urban energy network for building decarbonization

Sheng Chen, Ruiqi Wang, Mingchen Gao, Jielin Luo, Tao Wang, Binjian Nie, Carolina Font Palma and Long Jiang, IN: Nexus, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexus.2026.100043

Integration of direct air capture (DAC) with buildings is emerging as a novel strategy for building and urban decarbonization. This coupling offers the advantage of synergistically improving indoor air quality while enabling negative carbon emissions. The authors examine the integration strategies and interdependence between DAC and buildings, emphasizing the pathway toward effective and economic decarbonization through integration with urban energy networks. By exploring the nexus in depth, this work screens various methodologies for system configuration, ranging from individual room to system-level considerations, and evaluates energy-saving assistance for air conditioning under various climate conditions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Jia & Kirk (2026): The inconvenient truth about direct air capture: Realigning climate strategy with physical reality

Charles Q. Jia and Donald W. Kirk, IN: iScience, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.119979

Direct air capture (DAC) is promoted as an essential climate solution, yet thermodynamic and energy constraints make deployment at climate-relevant scales deeply problematic. Current DAC systems require 1,500–3,000 kWh per tonne of CO₂ captured and stored—one to two orders of magnitude higher than point-source capture and far beyond what global clean-energy availability can support. Meeting even the lower bound of the IPCC’s mid-century carbon-removal targets via DAC alone would demand more than half of today’s global electricity, diverting clean energy away from direct decarbonization. Overreliance on DAC thus risks institutionalizing energy inefficiency and delaying essential emissions cuts. Historical precedents, from acid rain mitigation to ozone recovery, demonstrate that pollution is best addressed at its source.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Kaur et al. (2026): A Review on Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide: Sorbent Materials, Process Engineering, Industrial Scale-Up, and Future Perspectives

Nimarta Kaur, Ahmad Al-Bodour, Santiago Aparicio and Mert Atilhan, IN: Energy & Fuels, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6c01174

The relentless accumulation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases has driven atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to approximately 426 ppm, necessitating the aggressive deployment of negative-emission technologies to achieve net zero by 2050. Direct air capture (DAC) offers a scalable, location-independent approach to atmospheric carbon removal; however, it is fundamentally constrained by the significant thermodynamic barriers associated with capturing CO₂ from ultradilute ambient conditions, requiring minimum thermodynamic energy inputs substantially higher than those for postcombustion point sources. This comprehensive review critically examines the technological landscape of DAC, focusing on the interdependent triad of sorbent material design, contactor engineering, and regeneration thermodynamics. The authors evaluate the fundamental boundaries of adsorption, emphasizing that an optimal adsorption enthalpy and isosteric heat of adsorption must balance the high CO₂ uptake capacity with the energetic penalties of sorbent regeneration. A systematic, comparative analysis of state-of-the-art sorbents is presented, encompassing mesoporous silicas, zeolites, carbon-based materials (CBMs), metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic polymers (POPs), and polymeric membranes. Special attention is devoted to surface functionalization strategies, particularly amine grafting and impregnation, which transition capture mechanisms from physisorption to chemisorption to enhance selectivity under ambient moisture and low partial pressures. Furthermore, the authors assess the operational merits of various reactor configurations, including gas–solid, gas–liquid, and membrane contactors, alongside regeneration cycles such as temperature, vacuum, pressure, and moisture swing adsorption. Finally, the review bridges fundamental materials science with industrial application by chronicling the scale-up milestones of pioneering entities and providing a strategic roadmap for advancing DAC technology readiness levels toward global deployment.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hong et al. (2026): Carbon sequestration for geological negative emissions of the shale gas value chain in China

Pu Hong, Meiyu Guo, Sai Liang, Wenrui Shi, Yumeng Li and Xi Lu, IN: Nature Communications, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68829-y

Carbon sequestration in shale gas operations represents a crucial pathway to achieve Geological Negative Emissions, which is essential for global 1.5 °C targets. However, the emissions reduction potential and economic viability of this approach in China’s shale gas value chain remain unclear. This study quantifies the potential for transforming China’s shale gas value chain from an emission source to a carbon sink, while revealing spatial heterogeneity in economic feasibility.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hong et al. (2026): Carbon sequestration for geological negative emissions of the shale gas value chain in China

Pu Hong, Meiyu Guo, Sai Liang, Wenrui Shi, Yumeng Li and Xi Lu, IN: Nature Communications, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68829-y

Carbon sequestration in shale gas operations represents a crucial pathway to achieve Geological Negative Emissions, which is essential for global 1.5 °C targets. However, the emissions reduction potential and economic viability of this approach in China’s shale gas value chain remain unclear. This study quantifies the potential for transforming China’s shale gas value chain from an emission source to a carbon sink, while revealing spatial heterogeneity in economic feasibility.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Herbermann et al. (2026): Assessing BECCUS impacts on the SDGs through a value chain assessment for climate mitigation and energy transition

Joris Herbermann, Bob van der Zwaan and Drielli Peyerl, IN: Sustainable Production and Consumption, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43937-025-00121-4

As the urgency for climate mitigation intensifies, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (BECCUS) is emerging as a prominent negative emissions technology with significant potential to contribute to carbon removal efforts and sustainable energy systems. This work analyses whether the BECCUS value chain can support progress toward the 2030 Agenda by assessing the impacts across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 targets. By applying the Value Chain Assessment methodology, the authors assess the BECCUS value chain across five segments. Each segment is evaluated in terms of its positive or negative influence, as well as its direct or indirect impact, and in terms of its temporality. A new step is introduced to complement this assessment by identifying the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) enablers for formulating policy recommendations.

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