CDRterra – how can CO2 be removed from the atmosphere?
23rd May 2022 — Can carbon dioxide ever be removed from the atmosphere and stored permanently? How much carbon dioxide do we need to remove to compensate for unavoidable emissions and achieve our climate goals? And what side effects would that have? The CDRterra (Carbon Dioxide Removal) portfolio also aims to answer ecological, economic and social questions with its research. Therefore, the terrestrial CDR methods focus both on nature-based and technology-oriented solutions and on overarching questions of political and institutional feasibility, social acceptance and ethics.
CDR – a top DLR-PT topic
In order to be able to extract CO2 from the atmosphere with the help of so-called CDR methods in the future, many research questions need to be answered. DLR-PT is helping to build a solid scientific foundation and to provide balanced advice to policy-makers on CDR.
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Ambitious climate protection has priority
The less carbon dioxide we emit, the less we will need to rely on CO2 removal methods in the future to achieve our climate goals. The scientists agreed that climate protection through avoidance and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions must remain a priority, as must adaptation to climate change. However, in doing so, we also have to make use of the so-called "negative emissions". That is why CO2 removal methods are, to a certain extent, already priced into the scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And both the German and the European climate laws explicitly include CO2 removal.
CDRterra's research portfolio
So far, seven research projects have been launched by CDRterra. These projects examine, for example, the feasibility of terrestrial CDR potentials under socio-ecological boundary conditions or how CO2 can be extracted from the atmosphere by means of artificial photosynthesis in order to convert it into products that can be stored in the long term. An initial process is being developed for this and tested for efficiency and usability. The potential of biobased negative emission technologies (NET) is also being researched; these biobased NET can be embedded in agricultural and forestry value chains in a wide variety of ways. Thanks to its extensive network, DLR-PT was able to identify and bring together the relevant actors. The experienced DLR-PT staff bundle the research results obtained and can use this knowledge and new findings to provide focused advice to our clients.