July 6, 2023 - Your Scoop in CDR!

LLNL: Economics Are Favorable For Carbon Removal and Storage the Independent- Jeff Garberson; Several years ago, research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory helped demonstrate that cutting emissions won’t be enough for California to meet its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045; the state will also have to remove carbon dioxide from the environment and store it underground.

Economics were a challenge, as the cost of collecting, shipping and pumping the greenhouse gas underground discouraged investment in actual CO2 removal projects.

Today, however, that picture is changing, according to new research carried out jointly by LLNL and a non-profit partner called the Clean Air Task Force (CATF.)

Current state and federal incentives make carbon removal and storage more attractive economically.

Not only industrial managers, but also local communities and landowners stand to gain from eventual carbon removal projects, the study found.

The new research findings are detailed in a report titled, “Sharing the Benefits”, and described in a webinar late last month that was sponsored by LLNL and the Livermore Lab Foundation. The Foundation supports Laboratory research, as well as a variety of education programs to stimulate future scientific interest.

Carbon CommoditizationReuters- Briefing: Carbon Commoditization - how business can price in environmental impact

This report highlights the need to understand and take advantage of the carbon market; covering regulations, investment opportunities technologies and solutions.

Download your copy of the briefing now >>>

Key updates include:

Carbon market participation: Learn the impacts of building awareness of carbon markets and the opportunities available in your jurisdictions

Financial consequences: See the obligations required in your market and ensure you mitigate exposure to emission-based financial penalties

Subsidiary incentives: How to take advantage of changing subsidiaries on offer; make the most of the economic viability of carbon capture

Stay ahead of the curve: Look at the UK and EU as examples of markets building carbon accounting into their financial and investment strategies; US regulation won’t be far behind

Carbon market pricing: Understand the cap-and-trade carbon pricing blueprint being built in order to create a global standard for carbon

Why Do We Need CDR? Scientists say CDR technologies are essential because the excess greenhouse gases, mostly CO2, we've already emitted into the atmosphere over the last 250 years need to eventually be removed to keep the global temperature increase between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius (the goal of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement).

“There is no net zero without CDR: it puts the ‘net’ in net zero,” said Eve Tamme, managing director of Climate Principles, a climate policy advisory group based in the Netherlands. “CDR…needs to happen in addition to reducing emissions. It’s an ‘and and’ concept."

CDR is also “unavoidable” in the short-term for emissions linked to hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement, which are harder to decarbonize, United Nations scientists said last year in a major report. Vast amounts of CO2 will have to be captured in the medium and long-term as well to return the atmosphere to climate-safe levels.

Carbon removal methods vary in terms of how CO2 is extracted from the atmosphere, where the carbon is stored and for how long. They also vary on resource requirements, costs, hazards, development stages and price tags.