Global Climate News

The 2024 carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market grew 2.4 times larger than in 2023, with annual purchases increasing by 7.5 million tonnes of CO2. Biomass-based CDR dominated (82% of purchases), while Direct Air Capture declined to 11%. Two BECCS providers, Stockholm Exergi and Ørsted, captured over 70% of offtakes. Scandinavia and North America led in subsidizing CDR, with Sweden and Denmark committing $5 billion in public funding. Despite Biomass-CDR’s dominance in volume, DAC received the largest share of private investment.

\"Multiple European organizations urged the EU Commission to integrate carbon dioxide removal (CDR) into the Clean Industrial Deal. They emphasized the need for streamlined permitting, an IPCEI for CDR, competitive financial incentives, and investment in workforce development to achieve climate neutrality. The projected market size for CDR is €220 billion with 670,000 new jobs by 2050.\"

Switzerland-based Climeworks has shared its 2024 milestones including the inauguration of Mammoth (world's largest Direct Air Capture plant), Project Cypress development in Louisiana, launch of Climeworks Solutions portfolio offering, certification under Puro Standard, and unveiling of Generation 3 technology. The company's Project Cypress, awarded USD 50 million by U.S. DOE, aims to capture 1 million tons of CO₂ annually when complete. The new Generation 3 technology promises to reduce carbon removal costs by up to 50% compared to current costs.

Researchers have modeled the impact of Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) on environmental preservation using a restorable common-pool resource game and a laboratory experiment. The study shows that crowding out of virtuous behaviors (mitigation efforts) only emerges when NETs are surely available and cheap. The availability of NETs did not lead to longer conservation of common resources or higher earnings, and it made earnings distribution more unequal.

US-based Bezos Earth Fund, in partnership with Experiment Foundation, announced the winners and finalists of its $1M Greenhouse Gas Removal Ideation Prize. The prize, structured in two phases, awarded funding to projects focusing on diverse greenhouse gas removal technologies, aiming to significantly contribute towards removing gigatonnes of greenhouse gases annually by 2050.

The Bezos Earth Fund, in collaboration with RMI, published a roadmap outlining a path to achieve ambitious scaled deployment of removal technologies by 2050. The roadmap sets decadal deployment goals, aiming to remove 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year by 2050. This follows a major workshop with the U.S. Department of Energy and Stanford University involving 500+ experts.

Switzerland-based ETH Zurich has made several breakthrough developments in climate and sustainability technologies in 2024. These include a new light-based CO2 capture solution, improved lithium metal batteries for EVs, a solar thermal trap for high-temperature industrial processes, efficient rare earth metal recovery from e-waste, and an iron-ore based hydrogen storage system. The university has also found that direct air carbon capture remains twice as expensive as previously estimated.

UK-based Teesside University and the University of Edinburgh are developing CalyChar, a new carbon capture material. This material, an advanced form of hydrochar, aims to capture 3.5–5 million tonnes of CO2 in the UK and nearly 30 million tonnes globally per year by 2030, at a cost of around £100 per tonne. The project is funded by CO2RE’s Pathfinders III scheme and explores environmental impacts of using CalyChar in soil, wetlands, bio-concrete, and bio-cement.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) opened applications for up to $1.8 billion in funding for the design, construction, and operation of mid- and large-scale commercial direct air capture (DAC) facilities and infrastructure access platforms. This funding will support an ecosystem of projects to provide DAC technology and project developers with support and spur the growth of additional DAC Hubs. The funding is divided into three topic areas: Infrastructure Access Platforms (up to $250 million per project), Mid-Scale Commercial DAC Facilities (up to $50 million per project), and Large-Scale Commercial DAC Facilities (up to $600 million per project).

Oxfordshire County Council in the UK has become the first local authority to set a target of going beyond net zero by removing carbon emissions. The council committed to extending its carbon neutral target and moving into carbon dioxide removal, focusing on afforestation, reforestation, biochar, and soil carbon sequestration. They will also work with partners to explore benefits for rural economies and climate adaptation.

Oregon State University researchers have synthesized new titanium peroxide molecules that can capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. The research, funded in part by the Department of Energy and the Murdock Charitable Trust, resulted in a new potassium tetraperoxo titanate structure with roughly double the carbon capture capacity of vanadium peroxide.

Researchers have developed a novel photocatalytic material called COF@g-C3N4 that can convert carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals using solar energy. The material combines covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with g-C3N4 through covalent bonding, creating an efficient, metal-free catalyst that offers both good photocatalytic performance and environmental benefits for CO2 reduction.

Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation announced a significant investment in US-based Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Inc., a company operating the first commercial Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility in the United States. This investment follows an earlier investment in Heirloom through convertible securities and supports Heirloom’s commercialization and global expansion of its DAC technology, which uses limestone to capture CO2 from the atmosphere. Heirloom’s first project in Tracy, California, captures about 1,000 tons of CO2 per year, while a second project in Louisiana aims to capture about 17,000 tons annually.

MIT researchers have published a comprehensive study analyzing land-use options to limit global warming to 1.5°C, showing sufficient land exists for food, ecosystem services, and emissions reduction with transformative policy changes.

MIT researchers have published a comprehensive study analyzing land-use options to limit global warming to 1.5°C, showing sufficient land exists for food, ecosystem services, and emissions reduction with transformative policy changes.

Seven scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have been named Battelle Distinguished Inventors for receiving 14 or more US patents each. The scientists' innovations span across climate-relevant technologies including advanced manufacturing, engine optimization, polymer upcycling, carbon capture, and battery performance improvements.

MIT Energy Initiative researchers have published a study in One Earth journal examining Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology's limitations and challenges, warning against over-reliance on DAC for climate stabilization.

MIT Energy Initiative's Annual Research Conference discusses challenges and solutions for accelerating decarbonization amid global complexities. The conference brings together researchers, government officials, and business leaders to address various aspects of energy transition including technology adoption, infrastructure development, policy making, and workforce development, with particular focus on stakeholder engagement and community benefits.

Researchers have developed a scalable electrochemical process to produce carbon-neutral/negative cement using calcium silicates and recycled concrete, while generating green hydrogen as a byproduct.

Carbon Market Watch policy expert has analyzed the concept of permanent carbon removals, explaining their role in climate mitigation and advocating for separate targets for emissions reductions, land-based sequestration, and permanent carbon removals, while highlighting the European Commission's lack of commitments on permanent removal targets.