Is Engineered CDR effective?

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) can be broadly categorised into two different types. Nature-based and Engineered. Nature-based CDR refers to the traditional methods like afforestation, while engineered CDR includes methods that require some level of technological innovation. This includes biochar, chemical weathering, geochemical processes, and all other CDR that goes beyond purely biological processes. 

Compared to Nature-based solutions, engineered CDR offers larger and more durable removal potentials, greater scalability, and more flexibility in where it can be installed, making it a far more effective solution in the long-term. However, nature-based solutions are more readily available and often cheaper, making them a popular choice for those with short term goals. 

The issue with engineered CDR is that while they do offer great potential for reducing atmospheric CO2 in the long-term, they can require high costs, energy needs, and equipment before they achieve net zero, which can result in causing emissions before they can capture them in some cases. With the climate at such a crisis point, there may not be time to reach the full scalability of these technologies before the net-zero by 2050 IPCC target. Relying too heavily on the eventual readiness of engineered CDR could also allow ‘business as normal’ emissions to continue for too long. 

There are methods of making engineered CDR as efficient and quickly scalable as possible, which would include clear regulatory framework and infrastructure development for the transport and storage of captures CO2, and accelerating the development of engineered technologies through financial incentives (such as the IRA in the USA) and market-based mechanisms that will lower the price of engineered CDR within a few years. 

Ideally, both nature-based and engineered CDR will be used to achieve net-zero, with the most permanent natural solutions acting as a short term solution, while engineered CDR reaches its development potential and is scaled to full capacity within the next 10 years.

Photo by Viktor Kiryanov