Summary: Carbon Removal Scalability Assessment (Report)

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Poster's note: "This is a summary report of BeZero's analysis (Please find the attached report). The full analytical report is provided exclusively on the BeZero Carbon Markets platform."

https://bezerocarbon.com/insights/carbon-removal-scalability-assessment-summary-report/

26 January 2023 

Writers

Victoria Harvey

Research Associate

Garrett Guard

Research Analyst

Ted Christie-Miller

Head of Carbon Removal

Summary

The scalability of carbon removal methods is nuanced. No single method can be deemed “most scalable” due to the uncertainty of the future and the high variation between projects of the same method. Each method has its own scaling challenges. One of DAC’s largest barriers is energy, BECCS has land as a key barrier, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement has challenges with MRV readiness, Enhanced Weathering struggles with having sufficient policy support, and Biochar’s feedstocks mean that land remains a key barrier. 

Key Takeaways:

1. BeZero Carbon provides a first of its kind assessment looking at the scalability of five carbon removal methods. The assessment identifies gaps or barriers to scaling that research, investment and policy support can overcome.

2. The analysis finds that each method has unique barriers to scaling and no method will scale on current trajectories without intervention. For example, BECCS has a very significant land barrier to scaling, whereas DAC has a very minor land barrier. The inverse is true when looking at the energy barrier to scaling.

3. Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement has some of the largest barriers to scaling currently, particularly on policy and monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) readiness. Biochar has some of the lowest barriers to scaling, particularly on finance, ancillary value chains and MRV readiness.

Figure 1: BeZero Carbon’s Universal Factors of Scalability

Table 1: Overview of January 2023 BeZero Carbon Scalability Assessment

Source: BeZero