Published by Todd Bush on February 4, 2025
MIT study finds a diversified portfolio of carbon dioxide removal options delivers the best return on investment.
Last year the Earth exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial times, a threshold beyond which wildfires, droughts, floods, and other climate impacts are expected to escalate in frequency, intensity, and lethality.
To cap global warming at 1.5 C and avert that scenario, the nearly 200 signatory nations of the Paris Agreement on climate change will need to not only dramatically lower their greenhouse gas emissions, but also take measures to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and durably store it at or below the Earth’s surface.
>> In Other News: Spokane, Washington, Explores Carbon Capture Technology at WTE Facility
Past analyses of the climate mitigation potential, costs, benefits, and drawbacks of different carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options have focused primarily on three strategies: bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), in which CO2-absorbing plant matter is converted into fuels or directly burned to generate energy, with some of the plant’s carbon content captured and then stored safely and permanently; afforestation/reforestation, in which CO2-absorbing trees are planted in large numbers; and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), a technology that captures and separates CO2 directly from ambient air and injects it into geological reservoirs or incorporates it into durable products.
To provide a more comprehensive and actionable analysis of CDR, a new study by researchers at the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3) first expands the option set to include biochar (charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in soil) and enhanced weathering (EW) (spreading finely ground rock particles on land to accelerate storage of CO2 in soil and water). The study then evaluates portfolios of all five options—in isolation and in combination—to assess their capability to meet the 1.5 C goal and their potential impacts on land, energy, and policy costs.
The study appears in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Aided by their global multi-region, multi-sector Economic Projection and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, the MIT CS3 researchers produce three key findings.
First, the most cost-effective, low-impact strategy that policymakers can take to achieve global net-zero emissions—an essential step in meeting the 1.5 C goal—is to diversify their CDR portfolio, rather than rely on any single option. This approach minimizes overall cropland and energy consumption and negative impacts such as increased food insecurity and decreased energy supplies.
By diversifying across multiple CDR options, the highest CDR deployment of around 31.5 gigatons of CO2 per year is achieved in 2100, while also proving the most cost-effective net-zero strategy. The study identifies BECCS and biochar as most cost-competitive in removing CO2 from the atmosphere, followed by EW, with DACCS as uncompetitive due to high capital and energy requirements. While posing logistical and other challenges, biochar and EW have the potential to improve soil quality and productivity across 45 percent of all croplands by 2100.
“Diversifying CDR portfolios is the most cost-effective net-zero strategy because it avoids relying on a single CDR option, thereby reducing and redistributing negative impacts on agriculture, forestry, and other land uses, as well as on the energy sector,” says Solene Chiquier, lead author of the study, who was a CS3 postdoc during its preparation.
Second, there is no optimal CDR portfolio that will work well at global and national levels. The ideal CDR portfolio for a particular region will depend on local technological, economic, and geophysical conditions. For example, afforestation and reforestation would be of great benefit in places like Brazil, Latin America, and Africa, by not only sequestering carbon in more acreage of protected forest but also helping to preserve planetary well-being and human health.
“In designing a sustainable, cost-effective CDR portfolio, it is important to account for regional availability of agricultural, energy, and carbon-storage resources,” says Sergey Paltsev, CS3 deputy director, MIT Energy Initiative senior research scientist, and supervising co-author of the study. “Our study highlights the need for enhancing knowledge about local conditions that favor some CDR options over others.”
Finally, the MIT CS3 researchers show that delaying large-scale deployment of CDR portfolios could be very costly, leading to considerably higher carbon prices across the globe—a development sure to deter the climate mitigation efforts needed to achieve the 1.5 C goal. They recommend near-term implementation of policy and financial incentives to help fast-track those efforts.
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.
Inside This Issue ⚡ The Energy Source That Could Survive Trump’s Attack on California’s Green Ambitions 🌍 Carbon Business Council Expands European Footprint to Support the Continent’s Carbon Remov...
Inside This Issue 💥 North America's $170B Hydrogen Surge: Why 2025 is the Tipping Point ⚙️ First Centrifugal on Board Carbon Capture System Launches 🌾 AgriCapture Rice Methane Reduction Project R...
Inside This Issue 🏭 Baker Hughes to Acquire Chart Industries, Accelerating Energy & Industrial Technology Strategy ⛽ Next Hydrogen Launches Ontario’s Largest Onsite Clean Hydrogen Refuelling S...
The Energy Source That Could Survive Trump’s Attack on California’s Green Ambitions
Hydrogen is a growing yet controversial source of energy that some see as key to California’s ambitious climate goals. A new project in Vernon will be one of the largest hydrogen production-and-d...
As carbon removal (CDR) progresses from start-up to scale-up phase, Europe has emerged as one of the most ambitious and fast-moving regions in the world Most recently, the EU announced it will inc...
RYAM and GranBio Sign MOU to Explore Cellulosic SAF Project at Jesup Facility
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (NYSE: RYAM) (the “Company” or “RYAM”), the global leader in cellulose specialty products, announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Under...
The following statement may be attributed to Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition (the Coalition), a non-partisan collaboration of companies, labor unions, and NGOs bu...
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.