Removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide through human activity
This article is about removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For technologies that remove carbon dioxide directly from industrial facilities and power plants, see Carbon capture and storage.
Planting trees is a nature-based way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; however, the effect may only be temporary in some cases.[1][2]
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a process in which carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities and durably stored in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products.[3]: 2221 This process is also known as carbon removal, greenhouse gas removal or negative emissions. CDR is more and more often integrated into climate policy, as an element of climate change mitigation strategies.[4][5] Achieving net zero emissions will require first and foremost deep and sustained cuts in emissions, and then—in addition—the use of CDR ("CDR is what puts the net into net zero emissions" [6]). In the future, CDR may be able to counterbalance emissions that are technically difficult to eliminate, such as some agricultural and industrial emissions.[7]: 114
As of 2023, CDR is estimated to remove around 2 gigatons of CO2 per year.[11] This is equivalent to about 4% of the greenhouse gases emitted per year by human activities.[12]: 8 There is potential to remove and sequester up to 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year by using those CDR methods which can be safely and economically deployed now.[12] However, quantifying the exact amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by CDR is difficult.