Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: The Problem of Phasedown

Most scenarios that achieve present climate targets of limiting global heating to 1.5°–2.0°C rely on large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to drive net emissions negative after mid-century. Scenarios that overshoot and return to a future temperature target, or that aim to restore some prior climate, require CDR to be rapidly deployed, operated for a century or so, then greatly reduced or phased out. This need for future phasedown presents challenges to near-term policies that have been underexamined. A CDR enterprise of climate-relevant scale will require financial flows of billions to trillions of dollars per year. The enterprise and supporting policies will create risks of lock-in via mobilized actors whose interests favor continuance as well as other mechanisms. The future phasedown need implies suggestive guidance for near-term decisions about removal methods and design of associated policy and business environments. First, variation among methods’ scale constraints and cost structures suggests a rough ordering of methods by severity of future phasedown challenges. Second, of the three potential means to motivate removals—profitable products incorporating removed carbon, extended emissions-pricing policies, or public procurement contracts—public procurement appears to present the fewest roadblocks to future phasedown.

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Overshooting warming targets – temperature reversibility and implications for impacts, adaptation needs and near-term mitigation

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15079 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Carl-Friedrich Schleussner ◽

Quentin Lejeune ◽

Philippe Ciais ◽

Thomas Gasser ◽

Joeri Rogelj ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Global Warming ◽

Large Scale ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Global Mean Temperature ◽

Mean Temperature ◽

Removal Technologies ◽

Near Term ◽

The Impact ◽

Global Mean

Limiting global mean temperature increase to politically agreed temperature limits such as the 1.5&#176;C threshold in the Paris Agreement becomes increasingly challenging. This has given rise to a class of overshoot emissions pathways in the mitigation literature that limit warming to such thresholds only after allowing for a temporary overshoot. However, substantial biogeophysical uncertainties remain regarding the large-scale deployment of Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies required to potentially reverse global warming. Additionally, beyond global mean temperature very little is known about the benefits of declining temperatures on impacts and adaptation needs. Here we will provide an overview of the current state of understanding regarding the reversibility of global warming, as well as impacts and adaptation needs under overshoot pathways.We highlight the characteristics of the overshoot scenarios from the literature, and especially those that are compatible with identified sustainability limits for Carbon Dioxide Removal deployment. We will compare those characteristics with uncertainties arising from the Earth System&#8217;s response which may complicate the efforts to achieve a decrease in Global Mean Temperature after peak warming is reached. This part will include latest results of the permafrost carbon feedback under stylized overshoot scenarios. Eventually, we will summarise the state-of-the-art knowledge and present new results regarding the impacts of overshoot scenarios for non-linear and time-lagged responses such as sea-level rise, permafrost and glaciers. This will allow for a preliminary assessment of the impact and adaptation benefits of early mitigation compatible with a no or low overshoot pathways.

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Deploying Low Carbon Public Procurement to Accelerate Carbon Removal

Frontiers in Climate ◽

10.3389/fclim.2021.686787 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Eric Dunford ◽

Robert Niven ◽

Christopher Neidl

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Large Scale ◽

Carbon Materials ◽

Public Procurement ◽

Emerging Technology ◽

Regulatory Environment ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Procurement Strategies ◽

And Storage

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be required to keep global temperature rise below 2°C based on IPCC models. Greater adoption of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies will drive demand for CDR. Public procurement of low carbon materials is a powerful and under-utilized tool for accelerating the development and of CCUS through a targeted and well-regulated approach. The policy environment is nascent and presents significant barriers for scaling and guiding emerging technology solutions. The concrete sector has unique attributes that make it ideally suited for large-scale low-carbon public procurement strategies. This sector offers immediate opportunities to study the efficacy of a supportive policy and regulatory environment in driving the growth of CCUS solutions.

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The Oxymoron of Carbon Dioxide Removal: Escaping Carbon Lock-In and yet Perpetuating the Fossil Status Quo?

Frontiers in Climate ◽

10.3389/fclim.2021.673515 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Shinichiro Asayama

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Energy System ◽

Status Quo ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Fuel Use ◽

Apparent Paradox ◽

Crucial Difference ◽

Lock In

There appears to be a paradox in the debate over carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. On the one hand, CDR is recognised as a crucial technical option to offset residual carbon emissions from fossil fuel use, so that it can help a transition to the net-zero energy system. But on the other hand, a serious concern is raised about CDR as a way to circumvent necessary emissions reduction, hence perpetuating the status quo of fossil fuel use. This apparent paradox of CDR, however, has less to do with technology itself but more with the difficulty to move away from carbon lock-in—the deeply entrenched fossil-fuel-based energy system. The challenge of decarbonisation is indeed about eroding the deep lock-ins that perpetuate the production and consumption of fossil fuels. To understand the role of CDR in overcoming carbon lock-in, looking back the past debate on carbon capture and storage (CCS) is instructive. Although both CCS and CDR are criticised for keeping the fossil status quo, there is a crucial difference between them. Unlike CCS, CDR can possibly avoid the risk of reinforced lock-in, given its physical decoupling from fossil fuel use. And yet CDR has the risk of undue substitution that continues unjustly fossil carbon emissions. A change of the framing question is thus needed to puzzle out the paradox of CDR. To rightly place CDR in the challenge of rapid decarbonisation, we should ask more how CDR technologies can be used in alignment with a managed decline to fossil fuel production.

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Large‐Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal to Meet the 1.5°C Limit: Key Governance Gaps, Challenges and Priority Responses

Global Policy ◽

10.1111/1758-5899.12921 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (S1) ◽

pp. 67-81

Author(s):

M.J. Mace ◽

Claire L. Fyson ◽

Michiel Schaeffer ◽

William L. Hare

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Large Scale ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal

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Evaluating the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) potential of large-scale aff-/reforestation and improved forest management in Norway

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6827 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ryan Bright ◽

Micky Allen ◽

Clara Anton-Fernandez ◽

Lise Dalsgaard ◽

Stephanie Eisner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Forest Management ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Large Scale ◽

Surface Albedo ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Terrestrial Carbon ◽

Global Mean Temperature ◽

Net Zero

As a carbon dioxide removal measure, the Norwegian government is currently considering a policy of large-scale planting of spruce (Picea abies (L) H. Karst) on non-forested lands (i.e., aff-/reforestation) and secondary forested lands dominated by early successional broadleaved tree species (i.e., improved forest management).&#160; Given the need to achieve net zero emissions in the latter half of the 21st century in effort to limit the global mean temperature rise to &#8220;well below&#8221; 2 &#176;C, the mitigation potential of such a policy is unclear given relatively slow tree growth rates in the region.&#160; Further convoluting the picture is the magnitude and relevance of surface albedo changes linked to such projects, which typically counter the benefits of an enhanced forest CO2 sink in high latitude regions.&#160; Here, we carry out a rigorous empirical assessment of the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) potential of large-scale aff-/reforestation (AR) and improved forest management (IFM) projects in Norway, taking into account transient developments in both terrestrial carbon sinks and surface albedo over the 21st century and beyond.&#160; We find that surface albedo changes would likely play a negligible role in counteracting the carbon cycle benefit of tCDR, yet given slow forest growth rates in the region, meaningful tCDR benefits from AR and IFM projects would not be realized until the end of the 21st century, with maximum benefits occurring around 2150.&#160; We estimate Norway&#8217;s total accumulated tCDR potential at 2100 and 2150 (including surface albedo changes) to be 447 (&#177; 240) and 852 (&#177; 295) Mt CO2-eq. at mean costs of US$ 29 (&#177; 18) and US$ 26 (&#177; 14) per ton CDR, respectively.&#160; For perspective, the accumulated tCDR potential at 2100 represents around 8 years of Norway&#8217;s total current annual production-based (i.e., territorial) CO2-eq. emissions.

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European Carbon Dioxide Removal Policy: Current Status and Future Opportunities

Frontiers in Climate ◽

10.3389/fclim.2021.682882 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Eve Tamme ◽

Larissa Lee Beck

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Scale Up ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Current Status ◽

Near Term ◽

Climate Neutrality ◽

And Storage

Over the past two years, the European Union, Norway, Iceland, and the UK have increased climate ambition and aggressively pushed forward an agenda to pursue climate neutrality or net-zero emissions by mid-century. This increased ambition, partly the result of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's landmark findings on limiting global warming to 1.5°C, has also led to a renewed approach to and revitalized debate about the role of carbon capture and storage and carbon dioxide removal. With increasing climate ambition, including a mid-century climate neutrality goal for the whole European Union, the potential role of technological carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is emerging as one of the critical points of debate among NGOs, policymakers, and the private sector. Policymakers are starting to discuss how to incentivize a CDR scale-up. What encompasses the current debate, and how does it relate to CDR technologies' expected role in reaching climate neutrality? This perspective will highlight that policy must fill two gaps: the accounting and the commercialization gap for the near-term development of a comprehensive CDR policy framework. It will shine a light on the current status of negative emission technologies and the role of carbon capture and storage in delivering negative emissions in Europe's decarbonized future. It will also analyze the role of carbon markets, including voluntary markets, as potential incentives while exploring policy pathways for a near-term scale-up.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Tidal volume lower than 6 ml/kg enhances lung protection: role of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1168498.630691 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Nigel Webster

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Tidal Volume ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Extracorporeal Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Lung Protection

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Ratcheting Ambition to Limit Warming to 1.55C Trade-Offs between Emission Reductions and Carbon Dioxide Removal

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3063337 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Holz ◽

Lori S Siegel ◽

Eleanor Johnston ◽

Andrew P Jones ◽

John Sterman

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Dioxide Removal ◽

Emission Reductions ◽

Trade Offs

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Flexible Spectrum Management: Approaches for India

Telecom Business Review ◽

10.21863/tbr/2015.8.1.003 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Arturo Basaure ◽

Heikki Kokkinen ◽

Heikki Hämmäinen ◽

V. Sridhar

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Mobile Services ◽

Radio Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Management ◽

Management Approach ◽

Unlicensed Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Band ◽

Management Policies ◽

Management Approaches ◽

Lock In

Radio spectrum for commercial mobile services continues to be scarce. Countries around the world have recognized the importance of efficient utilization of this scarce resource and have initiated regulatory and policy steps towards flexible approaches to spectrum management, including sharing of licensed spectrum, and releasing unlicensed spectrum for mobile services. Technologies for shared access and the associated standardization activities have also progressed towards possible large scale deployments. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of spectrum management policies using a causal model and indicate how the markets can lock in to either centralized or flexible approach. We also cite a use case of a flexible spectrum management approach using spectrum band fill option and indicate its suitability to the Indian context.

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