Effective and fair policy to mobilize industrial carbon dioxide removal

Abstract

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which emerged in climate models as a largely abstract idea, has evolved into a set of specific methods and spawned calls for supportive policies. Industrial approaches through the use of biomass combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), as well as direct air capture with storage (DACS) compete for scarce resources. We examine emerging conflicts that shape policy design to mobilize industrial removals by examining ideas, institutions, and interests and their interplay, conflicts, and alignments. We base our analysis on semi-structured interviews and stakeholder workshops in addition to emerging CDR policy literature. Arguably, technology developers, industry, civil society, and policymakers put forward ideas in a way that tends to advance their interests over others. Dominant ideas of CDR methods – including the notion that these would inherently be done at a large scale – have proven challenging to forming constructive policy discussion and made unhelpful generalizations of environmental performance, social desirability, or scalability of entire CDR methods. We outline opportunities and barriers to advance sound policies that scale the removal of CO2 effectively, efficiently, and fairly by outlining synergies, trade-offs, and conflicts in the current policymaking landscape of BECCS and DACS.