A Research Agenda for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration: a focus on terrestrial technologies

The National Academies convened a committee to develop a research and development (R&D) agenda needed to assess the benefits, risks, and sustainable scale potential for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and increase its commercial viability. The committee was asked to define the essential components of a R&D program and specific tasks required to answer these questions; estimate the costs and potential impacts of such a R&D program to the extent possible; and recommend ways to implement such a R&D program. This presentation will provide an overview of the committee's final report A Research Agenda for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration. The CDR approaches considered by the committee are coastal and land ecosystem management, accelerated weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture, direct air capture, and geologic sequestration. This presentation will focus on a synthesis of the impacts and research agendas for the coastal and land ecosystem management and bioenergy with carbon capture elements of the report.

Forests, grasslands, agricultural lands, and coastal wetlands contain significant reservoirs of carbon. As the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere has increased, there is growing interest in land and coastal management practices that can enhance the uptake and storage of carbon in biological and geologic sinks. Strategies for managing forests, grasslands, croplands, and soils influence their ability to absorb CO₂ include reforestation, afforestation, improved forest management, improved agricultural soil management, and the use of biomass as an energy source to substitute for fossil fuels. In coastal environments, strategies include restoring coastal wetlands and seagrass meadows and converting hardened and eroding shorelines to natural shorelines. Many of these practices also provide valuable ecosystem services, including enhancing coastal protect or improving soil health.