Q&A
About Carbon Dioxide Removal
What is CDR?
CDR, or Carbon Dioxide Removal, will be a critical tool in the climate change solutions portfolio. It refers to the wide range of processes and technologies that remove CO2 emissions from the atmosphere for subsequent long-term storage through sequestration or utilization in other products. To learn more about different approaches to CDR and its key role in addressing climate change, see the World Resource Institute’s Video Explainer: What is Carbon Removal?.
Why is CDR needed?
Given the challenges of achieving substantial global scale emissions reductions, the latest science from the IPCC makes it clear that emissions reductions alone will not be sufficient in preventing the worst and soonest impacts of climate change or limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. These efforts must be supplemented with the removal of significant quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The foundational challenge in tackling climate change is the historic accumulation of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. While emissions reductions will be key to decreasing the additional CO2 that enters the atmosphere each day, there is a much larger quantity of it already existing in our atmosphere.
CDR offers a unique tool in solving the climate challenge by drawing down these historical emissions. In addition, high quality, verified offsets generated using CDR enable hard-to-abate sectors such as long-haul transport, aviation, and steel and cement production to become carbon-neutral much faster, which would otherwise be incredibly difficult to decarbonize.
CDR will equip the global community with the tools pivotal to attaining net zero targets and building a more sustainable future. It provides us with the time needed to transition away from fossil fuels while continuing to meet the world’s energy needs and furthering decarbonization efforts.
Why don’t we just plant more trees?
Trees are one of the Earth’s own natural carbon-removing machines, and our forests are one of three major carbon sinks in the world. Captura supports planting additional trees, as they will always be beneficial to the environment, but tree-planting alone cannot provide a complete solution. The following article summarizes the limitations of reforestation as a climate solution.