U.S. Government Becomes a CDR Buyer

A few weeks ago, the US government announced it would directly purchase carbon removal. The Department of Energy released news of a $35 million fund to procure CDR credits. The prize fund will take the form of offtake agreements and cover four pathways.  More and more governments are funding CDR pilots, supporting research, and adding CDR targets to their climate plans. CDR has quickly entered an era of widespread support throughout North America and Europe.  But while the support is wide, it is also shallow; most policies take the form of modest grants or targets, with a few more ambitious countries leading the way. Many CDR commentators have come to the conclusion that without a compliance market, carbon removal won’t ever scale up.  On this episode we asked our policy panel about recent government actions on CDR: will they work, are they enough, and what more needs to be done? Are today’s policies sufficient to get us where we need to go? Radhika is joined by Wil Burns, Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University, and Holly Jean Buck, Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo.   On This Episode Radhika Moolgavkar Wil Burns Holly Jean Buck Resources DOE Announces CDR Procurement National Academy Report on CDR Research DOE RFP for Responsible Carbon Management Congress Members Letter on CO2 Pipelines Heirloom commitment to DOE principles Boston Consulting Group Report Reykjavik Protocol Connect with Nori Nori Nori’s Twitter Nori’s other podcast Reversing Climate Change Nori’s CDR meme twitter account