Worldwide emissions of CO2 are approaching 40 GtCO2 per year. Therefore, to make a real difference in the fight against climate change, NETs must be able to operate on the scale of gigatonnes CO2 per year.

The interest in CDR is growing. Why is this? Because it is becoming apparent that we are not going to reduce our CO2 emissions fast enough to avoid surpassing the 2°C goal. As a result, if we exceed the carbon budget associated with 2°C warming, CDR technologies could remove CO2 from the atmosphere to bring the carbon budget back into balance.

For most air pollutants, once the emissions stop, the pollutant will disappear and the impacts will go away. However, this is not the case for CO2, which stays in the atmosphere for centuries.

The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in preindustrial times was about 275 parts per million (ppm). Today that number has surpassed 400 ppm—an increase of 45 percent.

CDR encompasses myriad techniques and technologies: direct air capture, carbon storage and sequestration in natural basins, bioenergy with carbon capture, reforestation, carbon-friendly soil management practices, ocean enhancement, and many more. Each method has different rates of CO2 uptake, land requirements, energy demands, storage permanence, a... See more

The key challenges to large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the air are both technical and sociological. They include: 1) lack of knowledge – about the technologies needed, or how much capital will be necessary to pay for vital infrastructure; 2) fear – of unintended consequences, and that a reimagining of our global energy system will result ... See more

But to reach net-zero emissions, we need CDR to balance out emissions. Delivering on the idea of net-zero hinges on the development of sustainable CDR technologies and practices. Net-zero, though, is not a resting point; it is imperative to remove all the carbon dioxide we can – and then find new ways to remove more.