HOW
What are our options to remove CO2 from the air to have real impact?
“The key is to start”
Carbon Removal is the human act of removing CO2 from the air.
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Plants absorb CO2 through photosynthesis and store this is their biomass.
Afforestation, Reforestation, Blue Carbon, Improved Forest Management and Havested Wood products are all ways to use plants to capture CO2 and store it in their biomass.
Depending on the plant, it may decay after years (e.g. the leaves) or centuries (e.g. the trunk), re-releasing the CO2 back to the atmosphere.
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Like Nature-Based Solutions, plants absorb the CO2 from the air using photosynthesis. We can then use different methods and technologies to stabelise the storage of that captured carbon so that it dis removed from the atmosphere for centuries if nor millenia.
Hybrid methods include Biochar, BioEnergy with Carbon Capture and storage (BECCS), and waste-to-energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (WtE-CCS) or from bio-gas with Carbon Capture and Storage (Bio-CCS).
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We can also use technology to capture CO2. CO2 naturally dissolves in water: the ocean already absorbs 25-30% of human-made CO2. Rocks also naturally react with CO2 and rain water - rock weathering. We can also use chemicals, Amines of Potassium Hydroxides, that are powerful enough to directly capture the 0.04% of CO2 in the air.
These Technological methods are Direct Ocean Capture, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, Enhance (Rock) Weathering or Direct Air Capture.
The CO2 is then stored for millenia in geological formations.
The full summary of methods. Coming soon…..
The risks of inaction far outweigh the uncertainties of action. Leaders act to shape not just their business to be fit for net zero, but shape the regulation and market of net zero. We provide actionable insights for taking a first step towards net zero based on experience with carbon removal leaders and technology.