Carbon Management

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)

Technologies and natural solutions that enable the reduction of CO₂ emissions from the atmosphere by capturing it from ambient air and using it or storing it. Because of the low concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, this is very difficult to achieve.

Examples of CDR Technologies

Direct Air Capture (DAC): A technological type of CDR that uses large fans to capture CO₂ from ambient air

Reforestation/Afforestation: A natural type of CDR – planting trees or using other biological methods to reduce the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere

Carbon Capture

Technologies that enable the reduction of CO₂ emissions from higher concentration sources of CO₂ such as power plants and refineries by capturing it and either using or storing it.

Examples of Carbon Capture Technologies

Post-Combustion: Separating the CO₂ from the other exhaust of a combustion process

Pre-Combustion: Gasifying fuel and separating out the CO₂

Oxy-Fuel Combustion System: Fuel is burned in a nearly pure-oxygen environment in order to create a concentrated stream of CO₂ emissions to capture

Carbon Utilization

Using the carbon from either carbon capture or CDR for a product that either stores or re-releases the carbon (when burned). The carbon utilization industry is much smaller than the storage of CO₂.

Examples of Carbon Utilization Products

Liquid fuels which are then burned and the carbon is re-released into the atmosphere

Plastics, chemicals, and other materials

Carbon Storage

The long-term sequestration of captured CO₂.

Examples of Carbon Storage

Underground geologic formations: (e.g., oil reservoirs)

Rocks: (e.g., basalt)

Natural systems: (e.g., soils, trees, ocean, kelp)

30
operating projects* with
166
in planning or construction. Capture sources are generally gas cleanup, ammonia production, steel manufacturing, ethanol production, power plants

43 Mt CO₂ / year
being captured currently. If all planned projects go forward, the total injection capacity would increase by
200 Mt CO₂ / year

Record high of
$6.4 billion invested in carbon management in 2023, more than
2x
the 2022 investment.

Red: Amount of CO₂ being captured now
Blue: Amount of CO₂ the world has promised to capture by 2050 in stated policies
Green: Amount of CO₂ needed to capture by 2050 in the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario

High Concentration Sources (100% CO₂)

• Hydrogen and ammonia production
• Biomass fermentation for ethanol production

US$13 - $35 per ton of CO₂ captured

Medium Concentration Sources (3-35% CO₂)

• Coal steam turbines
• Cement kiln

US$40 - $120 per ton of CO₂ captured

Low Concentration Sources (<1% CO₂)

• Air (CDR)

US$134 - $342 per ton of CO₂ captured

Drivers

• Shown to be necessary by recent IPCC and IEA reports in order to keep warming to 1.5 °C
• Supported by institutions such as fossil fuel companies
• A lot of policy, in the US and globally, supporting these efforts (e.g., 45Q tax incentive, Norwegian carbon tax)
• Helps to take away the effect of emissions from “difficult to reduce” sources

Barriers

• Potential risks of worker safety, groundwater quality degradation, induced seismicity, and ecosystem degradation
• High costs, especially for CDR because of how dilute CO₂ is in the atmosphere
• Difficult questions such as who bears the cost of capture and where the money comes from
• Facilitates the continuation of non-renewable sources which may have other harmful effects such as air pollution

Updated October 2023