3. Past
Why do we care about carbon
sequestration?
Present
Who are the innovators in the
landscape today?
Future
What does the future of carbon
sequestration look like?
4. Past
Why do we care about carbon
sequestration?
Present
Who are the innovators in the
landscape today?
Future
What does the future of carbon
sequestration look like?
9. Sequestration
terminology
Prevent additional emissions
(low/zero carbon)
Remove historical emissions
(negative carbon)
Naturebased
(i.e.photosynthesis-driven)
Technology
(i.e.engineered)
Point-source
fossil carbon
capture and
storage
Point-source
biomass
carbon capture
and storage
Direct air
capture
and storage
ReforestationAvoided
deforestation
Cover crops, no
till, rotational
grazing, etc.
CO2
mineralization
10. Depends on your values.
Economics
Cost, scale potential, risk of reversal
Society
Benefits or risks to ecosystems
Equity and justice, jobs
Environment
What pathways hold the
most promise?
25. Niche markets
for CO2 use
focused on oil
production
~100M tons CO2
global market
Average price of
CO2 $15-30/ton
for enhanced oil
recovery;
$100/ton for
niche merchant
applications
30. Past
Why do we care about carbon
sequestration?
Present
Who are the innovators in the
landscape today?
Future
What does the future of carbon
sequestration look like?
52. Past
Why do we care about carbon
sequestration?
Present
Who are the innovators in the
landscape today?
Future
What does the future of carbon
sequestration look like?
53. Where is the future of carbon
sequestration headed?
54. Economics
<$100/ton CO2 removed, 10B tons/year,
accurately priced
Society
Aim for co-benefits and robust
environmental, health, and safety
regulations
Local communities central to all decisions
with economic opportunities widely
shared
Environment
What do we value?
68. Organization Title Description
Rockström et al. in
Science
“A roadmap for rapid decarbonization”
Explains why we need to reduce emissions rapidly and
remove carbon at large scales to meet climate goals
U.N. Environment
Program
“Emissions Gap Report 2019”
Shows we aren’t on track for meeting climate goals, thus we
need carbon removal
IPCC “Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5C”
Explains the importance of removal in meeting 1.5C climate
goals (with data from Fuss et al. at https://co2removal.org/ )
National Academies
“Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable
Sequestration: A Research Agenda”
Outlines a comprehensive R&D agenda for a full portfolio of
carbon removal strategies
The Royal Society “Greenhouse Gas Removal” Similar in scope to NAS study
Energy Futures Initiative
“Clearing the Air: A Federal RD&D Initiative
and Management Plan”
Translates NAS report into program recommendations for
U.S. policymakers
New Carbon Economy
Consortium
“Building a New Carbon Economy: An
Innovation Plan”
More than 10 universities and national labs explain their
priorities for carbon removal R&D
World Resources
Institute
Carbon removal reports
Synthesis of academic literature on carbon removal (with
focus on U.S.)
Innovation for Cool
Earth Forum
“Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide” Outlines state of direct air capture technology
Learn more about CO2 management resources
69. Learn more about CO2 management resources
Organization Title Description
University of Michigan’s
Global CO2 Initiative
“Global Roadmap Study of CO2U
Technologies”
Outlines state of CO2 use and conversion technology
Rhodium Group
“Capturing Leadership: Policies for the U.S. to
Advance Direct Air Capture Technology”
Proposes case and recommendations for U.S. policy on direct
air capture
National Petroleum
Council
“Meeting the Dual Challenge: A Roadmap to
At-Scale Deployment of Carbon Capture, Use
Broader state of CCUS and U.S. policy recommendations
Holly Jean Buck
“After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy,
Repair, and Restoration”
Book exploring carbon removal and progressive politics
Tim Flannery
“Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions
to the Climate Crisis”
Book exploring carbon removal moonshot innovations
The Economist
Intelligence Unit
“Carbon Removal” Research overview on carbon removal
Editor's Notes
Carbon180 1 minute backstory and what we do.
Section 1: General overview of the space // history, challenges, etc.
Section 2: Current landscape and competition (major innovators) and how they have succeeded
Section 3: Lessons from big players field and projections on next steps for people entering the space
Section 1: General overview of the space // history, challenges, etc.
Carbon sequestration is not a new or man-made idea -- carbon is naturally stored in soils and forests over time, nourishing plants and crops. The idea that we can use and store carbon exists in the world of modern innovation as well.
Industrial carbon capture has been used for decades, efforts have picked up since early 200s to find ways to sustainably store carbon in materials and products and geologic reservoirs.
What do you think about when you think about carbon sequestration?
Innovative industrial technology? Mature industrial technology?
All solutions are on the table
No silver bullet, all have pros and cons
Terminology around sequestration is confusing.
Helpful axes are (1) emission avoidance v. removal and (2) nature v. tech
What solutions should we pick?
Cost?
Scale potential?
Reversal risk? (and in general measuring and verifying)
Climate and environmental benefits/risks beyond CO2 sequestration?
Economic opportunity?
Equity and justice?
Nature v. technology?
Other goals?
The reason you do sequestration is climate
World has committed to very ambitious targets
All but mandating that we do sequestration at large scale.
This mandate for sequestration isn’t obvious, in fact it is quite burried
But it is incredibly clear when you look at the math
Reducing emissions this fast unprecedented. Helpful to have all the tools in the toolkit
Removal necessary at very large scale
Rockstrom et. al in Science “A roadmap for rapid decarbonization”
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Getting to zero is very challenging -- some sectors have no clear alternative
Supply curve is steep in beginning, but shows low-hanging fruit capture opportunities
National Petroleum Council: Meeting the Dual Challenge A Roadmap to At-Scale Deployment of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage
CO2 use offers revenue, some sequestration potential
Source: Global CCS Institute
EOR is the main customer today
Global CCS Institute: ACCELERATING THE UPTAKE OF CCS: INDUSTRIAL USE OF CAPTURED CARBON DIOXIDE MARCH 2011
Climate perspective, aggregates offer significant scale
University of Michigan Global CO2 Initiative Global Study of CO2U Technologies
Supply curves vary significantly by geography, goals
Livermore National Lab: Getting to Zero. Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California January 2020
Demand starting to emerge from corporate voluntary commitments
Section 2: Current landscape and competition (major innovators) and how they have succeeded
Section or “quote”/impact slide
We can do this today with mature tech… but there is a huge innovation opportunity at every step in the value chain.
MEA + saline is capture benchmark;
National Petroleum Council: Meeting the Dual Challenge A Roadmap to At-Scale Deployment of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage
We can do this today with mature tech… but there is a huge innovation opportunity at every step in the value chain.
MEA + saline is capture benchmark;
National Petroleum Council: Meeting the Dual Challenge A Roadmap to At-Scale Deployment of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage
We can do this today with mature tech… but there is a huge innovation opportunity at every step in the value chain.
MEA + saline is capture benchmark;
National Petroleum Council: Meeting the Dual Challenge A Roadmap to At-Scale Deployment of Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage
From National Academies: https://www.nap.edu/download/25259#
From Wilcox et al: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c00476
From Wilcox et al: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c00476
From Wilcox et al: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c00476
DOE just announced $22M in grants for early stage (TRL 2-3) DAC projects, 18 in total. Think of this as the beginning of a decade long journey for them to identify promising tech, narrow down support to most promising tech, but offering larger grants for larger and larger scale efforts.
Seeing interest from accelerators, family offices, cleantech VCs, corporate strategic investors across sectors.
Section 3: Lessons from big players field and projections on next steps for people entering the space
Section or “quote”/impact slide
What solutions should we pick?
Cost: <$100/ton CO2 removed
Scale potential: 10Bs tons/year
Reversal risk: accurately priced
Climate and environmental benefits/risks beyond CO2 sequestration: aim for co-benefits, apply robust environmental, health, and safety regulations
Economic opportunity: local, widely shared
Equity and justice: central
Nature v. technology: portfolio
Other: complement, not replacement for ending fossil fuel use
We get there through learning curves:
Based on deployment
Innovation comes from manufacturing scale
Capturing Leadership: Policies for the US to Advance Direct Air Capture Technology
Scale, not time, matters
Capturing Leadership: Policies for the US to Advance Direct Air Capture Technology
Tech breakthroughs I’m most excited about:
MOFs and novel chemistry
CO2 mineralization + aggregates
CRISPR and plan engineering
Microbial soil additives
Integrated landscape data monitoring and analytics (connected sensors, drone lidar/radar, satellites → AI/ML)
Cheap renewables
Most excited about new entrepreneurs in the space
Rethink sequestration from a climate perspective
Build on bipartisan support
Are very high -- sufficient to drive carbon sequestration at large scale
A near-term to net zero alternative to the social cost of carbon for setting carbon prices
From Columbia University “Energizing America”
We get to shape the future… if that’s what we value.
Carbon180 relies heavily on individual investments philanthropic donations. These people and organizations directly fund the work we do to advance carbon removal solutions in an effort to fix climate change.
Markets are diverse and large, but very hard to compete in
Carbon180: A Review of Global and U.S. Total Available Markets for Carbontech