Greenhouse Gas Removals & Net Zero

Catalog description

As the impacts of global climate change are taking place in real time, the scientific consensus is becoming increasingly clear that in addition to reducing emissions and meeting our global climate goals we will need to remove CO2 from the accumulating pool in the atmosphere. The terrestrial biosphere and ocean each year remove roughly half of our anthropogenic emissions, but at the expense of ocean acidification. In addition, with increased warming we’re realizing forests that once served as reliable carbon stores, are now becoming carbon sources. To achieve net-zero in time, we must recognize that for every molecule of CO2 we emit into the atmosphere, we must envision a path to pulling it back out. This course will cover the building blocks needed to responsibly estimate the scale of removals achievable, in the timeframe needed. It highlights the various components that will be critical as we continue building out and scaling up removals over the next decade. Removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is no one’s first choice for climate restoration - it is the contingency, the backup plan. We know we will need it, but it is still unclear what its true scale of application will ultimately become. The question of scale for requirements in 2050 is fundamentally unknowable. The true scale of removal required will be dictated by how rapidly direct decarbonization alternatives scale, what the energy demand will be, what CDR cost reductions occur, and what barriers to future deployment will arise. Within this course, both nature-based and engineered solutions to greenhouse gas removal will be covered.