Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission

Our goal is to enable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to achieve a net reduction of 100 million metric tons of CO2 per year globally by 2030.

Modelling by the International Panel on Climate Change indicates that removing billions of tonnes of CO2 directly from the air is necessary to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can further deepen decarbonisation in the near term, help economies achieve net-zero emissions in the mid-term, and decrease atmospheric concentrations of CO2 in the long term – gradually reversing some aspects of global warming. Current global deployment of net-negative technological CDR is practically zero. Further research, analysis, and demonstrations are needed to enhance confidence in CO2 removals, understand and address potential environmental impacts, and improve performance while reducing the cost of CDR technologies.

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Co-leads

  • United States of America Flag United States
  • Saudi Arabia Flag Saudi Arabia
  • Canada Flag Canada

THE PLAN

The world is six orders of magnitude away from reaching the anticipated global need for CDR. But CDR technologies are at an early stage, so more RD&D is necessary to demonstrate viability and applicability. Additionally, despite major technological improvements in Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches and bourgeoning investment in the past five years, the current high cost of CDR technology, and intensity of land and resource use present challenges across CDR approaches. There is also a lack of robust monitoring and measuring of CO2 removals on a life cycle basis for many CDR approaches. A public-private approach to tackling the challenges of CDR technology innovation head-on is essential. The Mission will focus on the following three technical areas to achieve the goal:

Direct Air Capture with Storage

Direct air capture (DAC) refers to any process or technology that captures CO2 directly from ambient air using a CO2 capture medium that is regenerated for re-use. The captured CO2 is then securely stored geologically or in long-lived products (locked away in a manner intended to be permanent), in a process known as direct air capture with storage.

Innovation priorities:

  • Reducing energy requirements and integrating low-cost, low-carbon energy sources.
  •  Improving material performance to capture CO2 at a greater capacity, with longer lifetimes.
  • Improving CO2 capture and desorption kinetics.
  • Reducing potential environmental impacts.

Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage

BiCRS uses biomass—which naturally takes CO2 from the atmosphere while growing—in combustion or other conversion processes combined with carbon capture and storage (bioCCS), or uses it to create bio-based products for the purpose of permanently sequestering the CO2.

Innovation priorities:

  • Increasing the amount of CO2 removed in biomass feedstocks.
  • Enabling net-negative system logistics.
  • Enhance utilisation by developing higher value, long-lived products and measuring life cycle emissions.
  • Reducing potential environmental impacts.

Enhanced Mineralisation

Enhanced mineralisation accelerates the natural reaction of CO2 in ambient air with alkaline minerals to form stable carbonates (i.e., rocks) and stores the CO2 in a manner intended to be permanent.

Innovation priorities:

  • Accelerating the kinetics of carbonation in rocks.
  • Reducing energy and land use needed.
  • Understanding potential environmental impacts and benefits.

The Sprints

Carbon Dioxide Removal Launchpad

A global push for CDR pilot-scale tests and demonstration projects, with six countries committing to fund at least one CDR project that removes 1,000+ metric tons of CO2/year by 2025. Participating countries will also contribute to a collective goal of $100 million for CDR pilots and demonstrations by 2025.

See CDR Launchpad Member Projects Here

CDR Mapping Initiative

The Global Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Demonstration and Deployment Map is an interactive tool to enhance awareness of the global landscape of CDR projects across the Mission’s three technological focus areas: Direct Air Capture (DAC), Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS), and Enhanced Mineralization (EM).

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