Can carbon removals solve climate change?

There has been a lot of interest in carbon removal in the last couple of years, including high-profile investment from organisations such as Google, Microsoft and Stripe.

It plays an important role in the net-zero journey, but what exactly is carbon removal, and how can it help us to reach global net-zero?

In this guide we’ll be covering: 

• What is carbon removal?
• Is carbon removal the same as carbon avoidance?
• What are the different kinds of carbon removal?
• What role does carbon removal play in net-zero?
• Why support carbon removal now rather than waiting until your target net-zero year?
• Why carbon removal is not a silver bullet
• How does Ecologi approach carbon removal?
• How can I support carbon removal through Ecologi?

“Carbon removal”, or carbon dioxide removal (CDR) refers to the process of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it in a way that prevents its release back into the atmosphere.

Carbon avoidance projects prevent additional greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere by reducing sources of emissions. An example of this would be replacing a fossil fuel power plant with a wind farm or a solar farm. From the moment the renewable energy replaces energy from fossil fuels, the potential emissions of the fossil fuels that aren’t burned for energy are categorised as avoided emissions.

Carbon removal differs from carbon avoidance because it removes CO2 from the atmosphere.

So, where avoidance is trying to minimise the volume of greenhouse gases being emitted, removal is trying to decrease the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

If you think about atmospheric CO2 as the water in a bathtub, with emissions represented by water coming in from the tap – then direct emissions reductions and carbon avoidance are both akin to turning down (or off) the flow of water from the tap, whereas removals are akin to pulling out the plug to let some of the water drain away.

There are several methods of carbon removal, each with their own set of benefits and drawbacks.

As outlined in our carbon removal white paper, we categorised these into biological and tech solutions. There are both traditional and ‘novel’ solutions – innovative solutions, often using cutting edge technology, which draw carbon dioxide from the air.

Whilst the focus must always remain on reducing emissions on a global level, all IPCC pathways to meet our 1.5ºC and 2ºC climate targets require some deployment of carbon dioxide removal.

The role of carbon removal in the net-zero journey (illustrated in the graph below) for businesses is two fold:

1. At the end of the net-zero journey, where you must neutralise a maximum of 10% of your original emissions through carbon removal credits (in blue)
2. Throughout the net-zero journey, where carbon removal credits should feature as a component of your beyond value chain mitigation (‘BVCM’) / “fund climate action” (in green)

There is an urgent need for businesses to support climate action including removals throughout their net-zero journey, not just at the end.

Much like businesses have a portfolio of investments, they should also establish their own Beyond Value Chain (BVCM), or “climate action”, portfolio – a range of projects, which includes reforestation, conservation, carbon avoidance and removal projects, which the business funds throughout their climate journey, to help contribute towards global net-zero.

In fact, the Net-Zero Standard recommends that businesses focus on securing and enhancing carbon sinks (terrestrial, coastal and marine, etc.) to avoid the emissions that arise from their degradation.

A strong climate action (BVCM) portfolio will therefore include a range of projects. This should include carbon removal, carbon avoidance, other forms of nature and habitat restoration, and more.

One vitally important thing to remember about carbon removal is that it is not – and, despite what some people say, will never be – a silver bullet for solving climate change.

This is for a number of reasons:

• Scale. Carbon removal will only ever have a limited role because it cannot compensate for the sheer scale of emissions we are globally producing. That’s why reducing emissions directly must always be the first priority.
• Uncertainties. Many new carbon removal methods are in their infancy, and it is unclear exactly how scalable they can be.
• Energy requirements. Removing carbon can be energy-intensive and requires substantial resources, including land, water and electricity.
• High cost. Some new technologies cost over $1,000 per tonne of carbon dioxide removed. Costs are projected to decrease over time, but will remain relatively high in the short to medium term.
• Earth system imbalances. The net effect on the Earth system of a tonne of carbon dioxide emitted and subsequently removed, is not the same as the net effect of simply not producing the emissions in the first place.

Our recently published carbon removal strategy unpacks a lot more about the types of solutions existing in the market; the potential of carbon removal including side effects; the prospects of the existing projects within the carbon market, as well as the insights which directed Ecologi’s Impact Team in selecting our first carbon removal projects.

Based on this research, Ecologi’s carbon removal strategy prioritises nature-based solutions including afforestation, blue carbon (mangrove & seagrass planting and protection), soil carbon sequestration and more proven novel approaches, like biochar production and enhanced weathering, over those which are less proven, scalable, or come with a higher risk of negative side-effects.

Our carbon removal project selection maintains the same quality standards we’ve always had, ensuring projects are certified through bodies such as Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard, as well as other highly regarded certifying bodies such as Puro. Find out more about how Ecologi sources high-quality carbon credits here.

You can fund carbon removal in our Ecologi Impact Shop, through biochar, afforestation, or blue carbon (mangroves & seagrass planting and protection).

When you fund carbon removal projects through Ecologi, you’ll see the tonnes of carbon removed appear on your profile.

Complete the form below to schedule a call with our team to start your climate journey and create a solution to suit your business. Alternatively if you already know what you need then visit our Impact Shop here, or if you’re an enterprise request a carbon quote here.