A Workshop on Aligning Goals for the Development of a Global Roadmap for Achieving Negative Emissions on the Order of a Gigaton by Mid-Century

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

The workshop will bring together a small group of thought leaders in the various sectors of Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs), including land management, accelerated weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and direct air capture with storage. The workshop is intended to establish a framework for a 1-year study in which each of the attendees works in their primary area of expertise, but toward a common goal of developing a roadmap to achieving global negative emissions on the order of a gigaton by mid- century. It is envisioned that global coverage of deployed NETs will have significant impact in reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration to safe levels as part of the global effort to achieve lower than 2 ?C warming by the end of the century. In order to effectively realize this vision, the workshop, "Global Mapping of Negative Emissions Technologies," and associated follow-up will assess the opportunities and impacts of NETs in different scenarios and multiple stages of implementation. Comprehensive mapping and siting of global potentials for negative emissions under various options of technologies and assessment of impacts are needed to provide richer understanding for the feasible and sustainable development of NETs and their multiple interactions. Such mapping will also provide policymakers, businesses, and investors with information needed to finance initial negative emissions projects of the highest value. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.