Scientists campaign for emergency program to remove carbon from air

In theory, it may be possible to collect wood or other plant matter that has absorbed carbon dioxide from the air, burn it in biomass power plants, and then capture the carbon released by combustion and to bury it deep in the ground, creating a powerhouse that has negative emissions. Although no such facility is commercially operational today, the technology to build it exists.

According to the expert group of national academies, one of the potential problems of this approach is that the land needed for biomass production for these plants could conflict with the need for agricultural land to feed themselves. The Panel felt that this method could one day be able to remove 3 to 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air each year, but perhaps much less, depending on the Earth's stresses.

This is far from the 10 to 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide that we may need to get out of the air by the end of the century to limit global warming to about 1.5 degrees Celsius ( 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the report. recent report of the United Nations. This figure assumes that countries are able to decarbonise their energy and industrial systems almost entirely by 2050.

According to the UN report, tens of millions of additional people could be exposed to heat waves and water shortages, and the world's coral reefs could disappear almost entirely.

The panel of national academies recommended a dual strategy. The United States could put in place programs to test and deploy ready-to-use carbon removal methods, such as negative-emission biomass plants, new forest management techniques, or carbon-growing programs .

At the same time, federal agencies should fund research on carbon removal techniques at an early stage to determine if they could ever be ready for widespread use.

For example, scientists have long known that certain minerals, such as peridotite, can bind to carbon dioxide in the air and essentially transform gas into solid rock. Researchers in Oman have explored the potential of using the country's vast mineral deposits for carbon removal, but there are still many questions to be asked. if it can be done in a feasible way on a large scale.