November 16, 2023

Carbon Capture & Storage and Carbon Dioxide Removal

CCS and CDR have provoked controversy, with some claiming they are essential to climate change mitigation and others calling them a get out of jail free card for the fossil fuel industry.  Where are we now with these technologies and what does the evidence show?  This briefing tried to answer questions from journalists about CCS and CDR in advance of COP28, with three speakers that addressed issues such as:

• What are they and how they are different?
• How and where they are being used around the world?
• How much they are bringing down emissions now and what they are capable of in future?
• What are their limitations, the pros and cons of each, and why they are relevant for COP28?
• How do CCS and CDR they fit into the real-world picture of climate mitigation – what scale do they need to be deployed at to make a difference, and are we ever going to be able to scale up to remove CO2 at source or from the atmosphere in sufficient quantities?

Speakers included:

Dr Steve Smith, Executive Director of Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford

Prof Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh

Eve Tamme, Managing Director of Climate Principles, a climate policy advisory that works with private sector, NGOs, and governments, providing strategic advice on carbon markets, carbon removal and carbon capture