Introduction

Undoubtedly, the increasing number of climate change consequences are constantly being felt through the rising of temperatures and sea level, extreme wildfires, floods, heavy downpours and drought leading to significant physical damages. Hence, attention has been given to efforts to tackle climate change and develop sustainable communities that would prevent the worst disasters of climate change. The most common solution has been reducing and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, with various approaches being deployed, such as the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, the decarbonization of the industrial process as well as the shift to alternative transportation methods. However, it has been alleged that current actions to reduce the human footprint on the amount of carbon dioxide added to the air are insufficient to mitigate climate change. Specifically, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified: “if we are to achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and limit future temperature increases to 1.5°C (2.7°F), we must do more than just increasing efforts to reduce emissions” (IPCC 2020).

Nowadays, societies are opting to achieve ‘carbon neutrality’ (net zero) or even more ‘net negative emissions’, meaning they try to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the amount being emitted. Therefore, greater interest has recently shifted towards pioneering Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies to remove the CO2 that is being produced. The two dominant methods are: i. Direct Air Capture (DAC) and ii. Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). Nevertheless, policymakers, specialists and researchers worldwide have a crucial ongoing debate concerning carbon dioxide removal’s benefits and risks. For this reason, only limited policies have been implemented to introduce and promote CDR. This analysis will present their gains and limitations to shed light on their implications for meeting global climate goals. Finally, it aims to support that carbon capturing constitutes an indispensable component of the suite of available solutions on the path to achieving net zero or even negative greenhouse gases emissions.

Definition

First and foremost, it is essential to define to what exactly DAC and CCUS technologies refer. Direct Air Capture technologies capture and remove directly the already emitted carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is happening by separating carbon dioxide from other gases by mixing ambient air with adequate solvents (The Economist). Then heat is applied to collect the captured carbon dioxide and store it. Additionally, CCUS systems capture carbon dioxide from heavy industry plants’ gas mixtures or from fossil-fueled power stations with as end of pipe solutions (Edvardsson 2020). This is then post-combustion technology since the carbon dioxide is separated after the industrial combustion (ibid.). Then, the captured CO₂ can be recycled to be used, either converted to create new products such as chemicals like methanol and formaldehyde or directly as input for other industrial processes (Erans et al: 2022). This is known as Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) (ibid.). Secondly, it can also be transferred to geological sites to be stored permanently underground or underwater. In addition, this is known as Carbon Capture with permanent Storage (CCS) (ibid.). This implies that the CO₂ released from the plants will not be able to enter the atmosphere. Finally, DAC and CCUS must be considered as complementary to and be deployed simultaneously due to the opportunities and benefits they offer.

Benefits

Carbon dioxide removal offers communities an efficient mechanism to mitigate climate change because of its numerous benefits. In particular, locating DAC plants does not require either large or arable sites of land. Therefore, sites can be built near adequate storage so that the removed CO2 can be transported easily by reducing the need to build large pipelines (Biber and Meckling 2021). In addition, DAC offers a pivotal answer to cope with carbon emissions that can be hardly decarbonized. These emissions stem from specific sources like the aviation industry and hard industries such as steel, aluminum, and cement production the so-called hard-to-abate sectors. According to the IEA (2021), these industries produce 20% of global CO₂ emissions, thus if societies aim for a sustainable future, the need to decarbonize them is of paramount importance. Another vital benefit of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, is its ability to remove emissions that have been in place for the past years. DAC constitutes the only way to confront previous emissions that continue to pollute the environment and deteriorate living conditions.

Limitations

Despite the advantages and valuable flexibility DAC has to offer, removing CO₂ has also its shortcomings. Initially, capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere constitutes a costly procedure due to the high heat energy these technologies require. CO₂’s low concentration in the air demands high energy levels for its compression (IEA 2021). Consequently, the costs for extraction are much higher than the expenses needed for other climate mitigation options. Moreover, taking into consideration the early stage of these technologies’ development, it is evident that both the scientific and the policymaking communities lack experience and confidence in promoting them and in giving incentives for their advancement. For this reason, sharing knowledge is crucial to promote DAC’s importance and achieve further progress.

Actions and Policies

Even though CDR is a new, challenging, and demanding method, constant and drastic efforts must take place to ensure its rapid introduction in the environmental policies portfolio worldwide. Firstly, DAC technologies should become a priority and get introduced to national and international agendas. It is only when policymakers set forward specific strategies, targets or even legislations that the establishment of these technologies will occur, and these will be promoted. The European Union, for example, has set up a strategy to increase carbon-capturing within the framework of promoting sustainability in communities worldwide. The action plan called ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’ uses the application of specific certificates to measure and verify carbon removals as an incentive to increase them in a voluntary market. It has also set a target of ‘5 Mt of CO₂ to be removed annually by 2030’ (IEA 2022: 55). Another example is the US which has implemented a quota policy that obliges governments to use a specific number of materials and fuels that have been produced with the captured carbon dioxide from the air (Friedmann 2019).  In addition, governments should identify the essential role of carbon-capturing in the already established strategies to address climate change. First of all, countries that have agreed to the International Paris Agreement on Climate Change are required to ‘deploy large-scale negative emissions technologies’ by 2050 as a mechanism to accelerate and achieve the reduction of 1.5°C target (Jeffery et al. 2020). For instance, within the United Kingdom’s Net Zero Strategy framework, the country has highlighted the urge to reach ‘80 Mt CO₂ of technology-based carbon removals by 2050’ (IEA 2022). Moreover, policymaking should be supported by additional investment and funding schemes. CDR companies can benefit from private investments in exchange for a count in the company’s net worth. Moreover, the EU has shown its support by investing in CDR projects. For instance, in the framework of EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the union funded the Capturing and Storage of carbon dioxide in its member states by implementing the ‘NER300 fund’ (NewClimate Institute 2020). Secondly, the EU’s Innovation Fund ‘mobilizes over EUR 25 billion in carbon capture, use and storage’ (European Commission). There is also the United States’ Tax Credit for Carbon Sequestration, often referred as Section 45Q, which has introduced incentives to encourage markets to enter the carbon removal market by qualifying credit to CDR projects (Congressional Research Service 2021).

Furthermore, international collaboration is crucial in order to achieve carbon’s removal systematic and consistent advancement. The development of CDR depends on international collaboration at a transnational level. This means that governments should cooperate with each other and together with international organizations, such as the International Energy Agency and UN, to share their knowledge, experience, and research efforts. UN COP27 could be an opportunity to promote incentives and initiatives for such technologies and enhance mutual learning between different actors. Finally, it is crucial for policymakers to create regulations and checks to guarantee that carbon dioxide capturing technologies are complementary and do not overstep or have an advantage over actions to reduce and avoid emissions worldwide.

Conclusion

To conclude, capturing carbon dioxide is a promising and necessary solution for tackling climate change and meeting global climate goals as soon as possible. However, these new technologies have also risks and barriers, as their deployment is still at a premature level. Therefore, it goes beyond doubt that efforts to avoid and reduce emissions from entering the atmosphere are still needed to reverse climate change. Capturing carbon and removing it constitutes an excellent way to contribute to climate mitigation, but it must be ensured that these technologies do not have a negative impact on delaying the reduction of direct greenhouse emissions. It is only when a combination of all available solutions is set forward in the climate mitigation portfolio that the most efficient and substantial outcomes will be achieved.

Malena Katsiampoula

Header image by Freepik