Dr. Patrick Herhold’s Post

💡Did you know that Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) currently eliminates around 2 gigatons of CO2 annually? Traditional nature-based solutions like IFM and ARR lead the charge, accounting for 99.9% of these removals. Yet, novel CDR methods, like BECCS and Biochar, contribute 0.002 gigatons per year. 🔄 Emerging tech, such as Direct Air Capture (DACS), is slowly gaining ground, with 19 active plants capturing 10,000 tonnes annually. 🌳 The challenge? Nature-based CDR faces land use and permanence issues. While technological solutions can help address some of these issues, they come at a cost – DACS can be $125-335 per tonne, compared to $15 for nature-based credits. 🌐 Verdict? To reach global net zero, both traditional nature-based and technological CDR are vital. We have to expand nature-based solutions and simultaneously invest in innovating and scaling tech CDR. Read the full blog explaining carbon dioxide removals, link in comments! #CDR #CarbonRemovals #NatureBasedSolution #TechBasedSolution

🔥 The 2024 State of CDR Report is out! 🔥 ❓ Are we actually on track to scale carbon dioxide removal (#CDR) to the levels we need? And how much exactly do we really need? 💡 The State of CDR Report (#SoCDR), now in its second edition, is your one-stop shop to answer these and many other questions. It brings together the brightest minds in CDR to compile an impressive 200 page report covering everything from policy, to R&D, to the market, and much more. Here are some highlights I took away from reading it: 🎯 Targets: we will need between 3.8 Gt in 2050 (very unlikely) to 9.8Gt of CDR per year by 2050. The amount of CDR proposed by governments around the world falls way short of what is required to meet the Paris temperature goal – the so-called #CDRgap. 📊 Amounts: today, we remove over 2 Gt/year already. However, novel CDR accounts for only around 0.0013 Gt of this leading with biochar carbon removal (#BCR) at 0.79 Mt, #BECCS at 0.51 Mt, #DACCS at 0.004 Mt, and enhanced weathering (#EW) at approximately 0.03 MtCO2. 📈 Models: almost all 630 IPCC models include conventional CDR (620), most include BECCS (601), some DACCS (217), but almost none EW (15) or BCR (1). Shocking to me how low these last two numbers are given the potential of non-CCS CDR methods. 💱 Voluntary carbon market (#VCM): credits issued for conventional CDR fell in 2023 from 20.4 million to 13.3 million, while purchases of future novel CDR credits grew from 600,000 to 4.6 million. The VCM accounts for only 2% of total carbon trade, with compliance markets (emissions trading schemes) covering the other 98%. 💵 Price: on average, credits from conventional CDR methods (which ranged from $12 to $16 in 2023) cost three times more than credits generated from emission reduction or avoidance projects. The average weighted price for novel CDR credits (which ranged from $111 to $1,608 in 2023) exceeds the price for credits from emission reduction or avoidance projects by a factor of 100. 😍 Finally, I was glad to see a whole chapter dedicated to monitoring, reporting, and verification (#MRV). The report rightly points to the central role MRV will play in scaling CDR to climate relevance, as well as the huge complexity we currently see in the market. This is the raison d’etre of Carbonfuture, and we look forward to helping solve this challenge. 🔗 I highly recommend reading the full report - download it here: https://lnkd.in/dUb2KSrk 👏 Shout-out to the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment - University of Oxford as well as the lead authors for their outstanding work: Steve Smith, Oliver Geden, Matthew GIDDEN, William F. Lambi, Greg Nemet, Jan Minx, Holly Jean Buck, Josh Burke FRSA, Emily Cox, Edward Morgan, Sabine Fuss, Injy Johnstone, Finn Müller-Hansen, Julia Pongratz, Benedict Probst, Stephanie Roex, Felix Schenuit, Ingrid Schulte, Naomi E. Vaughan and all the incredible co-authors. ⁉️ What do you think? What resonates most? Anything you feel is missing?

Carbon dioxide removal is becoming a crucial factor for companies looking to offset hard-to-abate emissions. According to recent studies, direct air capture and storage (DACS) #technology may be the most effective solution for this task. DACS has the potential to remove from 5 to 40 Gt of CO2 per year, making it a promising option for companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. As the technology develops, the cost per ton of CO2 captured is expected to drop to a manageable $200. With this in mind, companies should consider locking in access to offsets now, as demand is likely to outpace supply going forward. In short, direct air capture and storage technology is a promising solution for companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint. As the cost per ton of #co2 captured continues to decrease, it is essential for companies to invest in this technology now to secure access to offsets and stay ahead of the curve in the fight against #climate #change . #co2reduction #co2capture #netzero #sustainability #esg #netzerocarbon

Carbon Dioxide Removal: Best-Practice Guidelines (WHITE PAPER-JANUARY 2024) By #WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM What Companies Can Learn from First Movers In 2023, a significant portion of days saw global temperatures surpassing pre-industrial levels by at least 1.5°C. Scientists cautioned in October that humanity is on track to exceed the remaining carbon budget within five to six years, despite commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Greenhouse gas emissions persistently rise instead of declining. The paramount challenge remains decarbonizing the global economy, closely followed by the urgent need to enhance carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. Even achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, as pledged by countries and companies, will not suffice. The ongoing removal of CO₂ is necessary to counter historical emissions, mitigate the toughest-to-abate emissions, and guard against Earth's feedback loops due to a warmer climate. The enormity of the task is staggering, requiring the removal of up to 687 billion tonnes of CO₂ by the century's end, with around 10 billion tonnes annually by 2050. While natural climate solutions like afforestation currently remove about 2 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year, alternative technologies are imperative. This white paper explores the potential of various engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, such as biochar, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS), and enhanced rock weathering (ERW). Each solution aims to meet the rigorous standards set by the World Economic Forum's First Movers Coalition (FMC) for scalability and durability in carbon capture and storage. The FMC harnesses the collective purchasing power of companies to accelerate the commercialization of vital decarbonization technologies, thereby lowering their costs. FMC members commit to procuring at least 50,000 tonnes or $25 million worth of durable and scalable CDR by 2030. The paper interviews eight FMC members across various industries to understand the importance of immediate action, emphasize the inadequacy of a "wait and see" approach, and offer insights into navigating this emerging market. It calls on all companies to integrate advance purchases of engineered CDR into their climate strategies. #carboncapture #carbonreduction #carbondioxide #carbonemissions #carbonmarkets #oilandgas #carbonstorage #petroleumindustry #petroleum

The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal 2nd Edition is a must-read report for those exploring the carbon removal space. According to the IPCC, there is no path forward without a material scale-up of CDR solutions. This report highlights the work ahead of us in scaling the industry. https://lnkd.in/dUb2KSrk You will find an insightful summary in the post below. Check out my additional thoughts on the need and the opportunity for novel CDR solutions in the attached article: https://lnkd.in/e2mtApU4 Carbon Removal Canada

Cutting emissions alone is not enough – if the world intends to reach #netzero, then CO2 removal has to be part of the solution; and the means for doing this can range from various nature-based solutions to engineered-removal techniques, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses.   While markets for carbon offsets can be an effective way for managing CO2 removals globally, at the moment, there are two fundamental gaps with the way it is being set up, which, partly, works against blue-chip carbon dioxide removal (#CDR) techniques.   First, at least 90% of the offsets traded in the voluntary market are not for removing carbon from air, but for avoiding its release; for example, by preventing deforestation instead of CO2 drawdown from the atmosphere. Partly, this leads to the vague offset pricing that can be significantly under USD10 per tonne, since CO2 avoidance generally has a lower cost compared to CO2 removals. Second, and more importantly, the pricing of carbon offsets doesn’t actually account for the differences in the quality of the offset - current offsets treat one tonne of carbon removed as one tonne, regardless whether it is sequestered for a few years or for 100 years. Adopting a spectrum of costs to reflect the diversity and quality of CDR approaches could deliver greater returns for blue-chip offsets that lock away carbon verifiably and at low risk for centuries or more; thus, steering investments towards a more effective offset project. Often, long-term sequestration is deemed most feasible with geological reservoirs or chemical storage techniques. Biological storage, while much needed in the near term and may have a cost advantage, is generally more uncertain, pose a higher risk, and is more complex to manage, quantify, and verify.   The authors call for incentives to encourage: 1) the uptake of ‘blue-chip’ offsets that invest in durable, safe and verifiable technologies; 2) robust monitoring, reporting and verification processes to assure developers and buyers; and 3) a warranty system to guarantee the provenance of each removal offset. This thought-provoking commentary in Nature explores 4 basic ingredients towards enabling such a system: https://lnkd.in/diXD3s3H

Carbon-Capture ▶ Increasing CO2 emissions are pushing our planet’s natural environment to a breaking point. In 2021 alone, emissions from industrial processes and the energy sector accounted for 89% of industrial Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions. With CO2 being the biggest culprit in every context, carbon capture technology, thus, comes in as a saviour. It can alleviate the exponentially increasing industrial carbon footprint by capturing more than 90% of the industrial facilities’ CO2 emissions. ▶The captured carbon can be stored in underground geological formations or utilized for numerous productive uses, thereby contributing to the circular carbon-based economy. Carbon capture technology is a relatively simple and short-term solution for industrial decarbonization. Through its implementation, it is possible to achieve around a 14% reduction in global GHGs by 2050. PS: #Stellarix helps clients maximize their #ROI through opportunity identification, strategy development, #technology leveraging deep domain expertise, engineering excellence, flawless execution, and an extensive delivery model. We focus on providing world-class quality yet cost-effective services to our clients while maintaining the highest ethical standards. #innovationinfertilizers #fertilizerindustry #Fertilizersinagriculture #Stellarixresearch #Stellarixconsultancy #Sustainabilityemergence To Read More Click Here: https://lnkd.in/eaHbY9BD

Great key takeaways from our #StateofCDR report 👇

The path to achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 hinges on the successful implementation of durable #carbondioxideremoval (CDR). Our latest report, Scaling CDR: Demand Drivers for Durable CDR, highlights the critical role of multi-gigaton-scale durable CDR to offset residual emissions, which are projected to remain unabated due to the limitations of current and emerging carbon reduction technologies. #netzero #decarbonization #carbonremoval

Great to see this investment that was kicked off with an idea back in 2016 delivering exactly what was designed. Proving that carbon reduction can be achieved without offshoring manufacturing with the right shareholder support and vision; but showing that new developments take time; in this case 5-6 years from an idea. We must give UK Manufacturing the regulation, space and time to deliver on net zero and we’ll do it - delivering low carbon production here in UK without offshoring our production to other parts of the world where carbon emissions remains unregulated and higher than here at home.