CO₂-removal News

Li et al. (2024): Carbon removal, sequestration and release by mariculture in an important aquaculture area, China

Wei Li, Xu Li, Chi Song, Guang Gao IN: Science of The Total Environment 927, 172272, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172272

In this paper, carbon removal, release and sequestration by maricultured seaweeds, shellfish and fish in Shandong Province during 2003–2022 were assessed using a comprehensive method that considers the processes of biological metabolism, seawater chemistry and carbon footprint.

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López et al. (2024): Indoor CO2 direct air capture and utilization: Key strategies towards carbon neutrality

L.R. López, P. Dessì, A. Cabrera-Codony, L. Rocha-Melogno, N.J.R. Kraakman, M.D. Balaguer, S. Puig IN: Cleaner Engineering and Technology 20, 100746, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clet.2024.100746

One application of DAC is indoor CO2 direct air capture (iCO2-DAC). A wide range of materials with unique properties for CO2 capture have been investigated, including porous materials, zeolites, and metal-organic frameworks. This review article highlights the importance of iCO2-DAC to improve indoor air quality in buildings and boost the circular economy. It discusses the available carbon capture technologies and materials, discussing their properties and focusing on those potentially applicable to indoor environments.

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Salekin et al. (2024): Carbon sequestration potential of plantation forests in New Zealand – no single tree species is universally best

Serajis Salekin, Yvette L. Dickinson, Mark Bloomberg, Dean F. Meason IN: Carbon Balance and Management 19, 11, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-024-00257-1

Plantation forests are a nature-based solution to sequester atmospheric carbon and, therefore, mitigate anthropogenic climate change. The choice of tree species for afforestation is subject to debate within New Zealand. Two key issues are whether to use (1) exotic plantation species versus indigenous forest species and (2) fast growing short-rotation species versus slower growing species. In addition, there is a lack of scientific knowledge about the carbon sequestration capabilities of different plantation tree species, which hinders the choice of species for optimal carbon sequestration. This paper contributes to this discussion by simulating carbon sequestration of five plantation forest species, Pinus radiataPseudotsuga menziesiiEucalyptus fastigataSequoia sempervirens and Podocarpus totara, across three sites and two silvicultural regimes by using the 3-PG an ecophysiological model.

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Günther et al. (2024): Carbon farming, overestimated negative emissions and the limits to emissions trading in land-use governance: the EU carbon removal certification proposal

Philipp Günther, Beatrice Garske, Katharine Heyl, Felix Ekardt IN: Environmental Sciences Europe 36, 72, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-024-00892-y

This article conducts a qualitative governance analysis of the European Commission’s 2022 proposal for a certification framework for carbon removals (CRCF). It highlights potential challenges and legal implications—with a specific focus on carbon farming.

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Master’s thesis: Social Marginal Abatement Cost of Negative Emissions: Incorporating Externalities into the Private Costs of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Anna Havukainen, University of Helsinki, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:hulib-202404091663

The objective of this thesis was to identify the Negative Emission Technologies and Practices (NETPs) that yield the lowest social costs, thereby providing insights into which NETPs should be prioritized for investments in CDR. This evaluation was conducted by developing a Social Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (SMACC) framework, to examine the potentials and social costs of various NETPs. 

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Mwaura et al. (2024): Do smallholders have a role to play in atmospheric greenhouse gas removal? Insights from western Kenya

Francis M. Mwaura, Margaret W. Ngigi, Gideon Obare IN: Scientific African 24, e02206, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2024.e02206

Despite consensus by the international community on the need for setting targets for reducing emissions or enhancing removal of greenhouse gases, comprehensive strategies for enumerating smallholders’ roles are yet to be designed and tested. Moreover, although smallholders’ role as net greenhouse gas removers has been speculated, evidence of this fact is necessary. A survey of 380 smallholders involved in maize-farming system in four sub-counties of western Kenya representing heterogeneity in agro-ecological zones and postulated biomass cooking energy access and demand was undertaken. 

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Suhrhoff et al. (2024): A tool for assessing the sensitivity of soil-based approaches for quantifying enhanced weathering: a US case study

Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, Tom Reershemius, Jiuyuan Wang, Jacob S. Jordan, Christopher T. Reinhard, Noah J. Planavsky IN: Frontiers in Climate, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2024.1346117

Enhanced weathering (EW) of silicate rocks spread onto managed lands as agricultural amendments is a promising carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approach. However, there is an obvious need for the development of tools for Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) before EW can be brought to scale. Shifts in the concentration of mobile elements measured in the solid phase of soils after application of EW feedstocks can potentially be used to track weathering and provide an estimate of the initial carbon dioxide removal of the system. To measure feedstock dissolution accurately it is necessary to control for the amount of feedstock originally present in the sample being analyzed. This can be achieved by measuring the concentration of immobile detrital elements in soil samples after feedstock addition. 

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Plan Sea: Ocean Interventions to Address Climate Change

podcast by Wil Burns & Anna Medlener (Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy, American University), 1h

In this episode Lennart Bach, at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, and Veronica Tamsitt, Head of Oceanography at the mCDR MRV company, Submarine, discuss some of the most pertinent issues to assessing the potential role of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) in a marine CDR portfolio, including costs, risks, and legal considerations.

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Gama et al. (2024): Process Operability Analysis of Membrane-Based Direct Air Capture for Low-Purity CO2 Production

Vitor Gama, Beatriz Dantas, Oishi Sanyal, Fernando V. Lima IN: ACS Engineering Au, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsengineeringau.3c00069

This study investigates the feasibility of using membranes as direct air capture (DAC) technology to extract CO2 from atmospheric air to produce low-purity CO2. In this work, a two-stage hollow fiber membrane module process is designed and modeled using the AVEVA Process Simulation platform to produce a low-purity (≈5%) CO2 permeate stream. Such low-purity CO2 streams could have several possible applications such as algae growth, catalytic oxidation, and enhanced oil recovery. An operability analysis is performed by mapping a feasible range of input parameters, which include membrane surface area and membrane performance metrics, to an output set, which consists of CO2 purity, recovery, and net energy consumption.

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