ggr technologies
current greenhouse gas removal technologies
Removal is achieved through a wide variety of approaches, involving either biology, accelerating natural inorganic reactions with rocks, or engineered chemical processes.
While some GGR methods are already operating somewhere in the world, others require significant development and demonstration before they can remove emissions at scale.
GGR methods also require resources, like land, energy or water, placing limits on the scale and location of their application, and leading to resource competition between them and with other human activities, such as food production.
Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) technologies which recapture already emitted greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and ocean, can play a significant role in achieving net zero.
Current examples on GGR technologies include Climeworks, Carbon Engineering, Drax and Project Vesta.
Carbon Cure and Charm Industrial are also examples of carbon storage technologies.
While some GGR methods are already operating somewhere in the world, others require significant development and demonstration before they can remove emissions at scale.
Types of greenhouse gas removal
Forestry
Growing new trees and improving the management of existing forests. As forests grow they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in living biomass, dead organic matter and soils.
Habitat Restoration
Restoring peatlands and coastal wetlands to increase their ability to store carbon. This also prevents carbon release through further degradation, often providing a number of other co-benefits.
Ocean fertilisation
Applying nutrients to the ocean to increase photosynthesis and remove atmospheric CO2.
Ocean alkalinity
Increasing ocean concentration of ions like calcium to increase uptake of CO2 into the ocean, and reverse acidification.
Enhanced terrestrial weathering
Spreading ground-down rocks on agricultural land, which react with CO2 in the air.
Biochar
Burning biomass in the absence of oxygen (pyrolysis) to create a charcoal-like product which can stabilise organic matter when added to the soil.
Soil carbon sequestration
Changing agricultural practices such as tillage or crop rotations to increase the soil carbon content.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
Using biomass for energy, capturing the CO2 emissions and storing them to provide lifecycle GGR.
Direct air capture and carbon storage (DACCS)
Using engineered processes to capture atmospheric CO2 for subsequent geological storage.
Low-carbon concrete
Altering the constituents, the manufacture, or the recycling method of concrete to increase its storage of CO2
Building with biomass
Using forestry materials in buildings extends the time of carbon storage of natural biomass and enables additional forestry growth.
Mineral carbonation
Accelerating the conversion of silicate rocks to carbonates either above or below the surface to provide permanent storage for CO2.
greenhouse gas removal case studies
carbon engineering
Carbon Engineering uses Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
Climeworks
Climeworks develops, builds and operates direct air capture machines to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air.
News and Events
Oxford Net Zero academics find cause for optimism in increasingly aligned net zero standards
New research from Oxford Net Zero and the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment finds that the voluntary climate standards used by companies to set decarbonisation targets are increasingly unified and can drive effective and meaningful ... Read more
Five members of Oxford Net Zero to serve as IPCC authors
We're delighted to announce that five members of Oxford Net Zero have been named as authors on forthcoming reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Dr Steve Smith, our Executive Director, has been named as a Lead ... Read more
Kaya Axelsson named one of the UK’s 100 most impactful sustainability leaders
We're delighted to announce that Kaya Axelsson, our Net Zero Policy Engagement Fellow, has been named by edie as one of the UK's 100 most impactful sustainability leaders. Edie is a prominent UK business, media and publishing network that ... Read more
Oxford Net Zero marks five years and looks to the future
When Oxford Net Zero started in 2021, it was the very first programme to receive seed funding from the University's new Strategic Research Fund (SRF). Over the past five years, our programme has brought together researchers from across the ... Read more
Expert Comment: Should the UK relax clean energy targets?
(First published on the University of Oxford's news site. View the original here.) Dr Stuart Jenkins, Oxford Net Zero Research Fellow on Net Zero for the Fossil Fuel Sector, assesses whether new North Sea oil and gas strengthens the UK’s ... Read more
Oxford Net Zero reflects on COP30
Members of Oxford Net Zero travelled to Belém, Brazil last month to contribute their expertise at the COP30 summit. This year marked 30 years of COP and 10 years since the Paris Agreement. After so many rounds of negotiations, COP30 was to ... Read more
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