Can we stop climate change by removing CO2 from the air?

A commentary by Phil Williamson explaining both the need for, and the issues with, the large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the air. 

An article in The Guardian& that I wrote with Oliver Geden and Steve Rayner about the dangers of including techniques that remove carbon dioxide from the air in climate models without a sufficient evidence base.

A blog post on the Oxford Martin School website about the need to develop technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the air. Other related blogs posts can be found here.

A very interesting web tool showing "how fast the carbon clock is ticking" on the website of The Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. We have a limited carbon budget — the amount that we can emit before we cause temperatures to rise by 1.5°C or 2°C. Depending on climate sensitivity, they estimate we have between 9 and 23 years before we cross the 2°C threshold. For the 1.5°C threshold, they estimate we may already have crossed that threshold — at best, we have three and a half years at current rates of emissions.

A website explaining the Origen Power process, which uses natural gas to generate electricity in a way that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A demonstrator of the Origen Power process is being developed by Cranfield University as part of the Balanced Energy Networks project, which is funded by Innovate UK.

It is essential that research in this space is adequately governed. While some people believe that no additional governance is needed, others feel that research related to deliberate large-scale intervention in the climate system requires additional governance. The Oxford Principles were an early initiative. A more detailed Code of Conduct for research in this space is being developed by the Geoengineering Research Governance Project and engagement on this issue with policy-makers and society-wide discussion is being undertaken by the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative.