Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — the world’s most authoritative body on climate science — agree that in addition to rapid and deep emissions reductions, we will need to pull carbon dioxide directly from the air through a process known as carbon dioxide removal (CDR). CDR includes a range of approaches and technologies which will be necessary — likely at a multi-billion-ton scale globally by midcentury — to meet climate goals. With this growing recognition, carbon removal has gained attention and investment from both the public and private sector over the last several years as a viable and necessary tool to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
In order to reach the expected scale of carbon removal needed to meet national and global climate goals, increased investment in research, development and demonstration is needed to develop a robust portfolio of natural and technological approaches. A broad and diversified portfolio of carbon removal approaches will help reduce cost and risk and balance tradeoffs associated with each approach. Successful policy implementation will require a multi-year, whole-of-government approach.
The Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023 — introduced by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) in the U.S. Senate and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) in the U.S. House of Representatives — would take significant steps toward reaching this vision. It would:
- Support cross-agency research and development on carbon removal, with more than $12 billion in funding over ten years. This includes a $2 billion program for competitive carbon removal demonstration projects, with a carve-out of $500 million for smaller-scale projects.
- Provide funding to nine government agencies, reflecting the wide range of carbon removal pathways that require research and development — from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to advance research on ocean-based carbon removal pathways, to the National Science Foundation to conduct research on governance frameworks for large-scale carbon removal, to the Federal Highway Administration to develop carbon mineralizing cement and concrete for transportation infrastructure.
|
Agency Offices |
Total funding over ten years, million $ (most to least) |
Areas of research, development, and demonstration activity (not comprehensive) |
|
Department of Energy
|
$6,856 |
|
|
Department of Agriculture
|
$1,188 |
|
|
Department of Commerce
|
$1,123 |
|
|
National Science Foundation
|
$1,101 |
|
|
Department of Transportation
|
$650 |
|
|
Department of Defense |
$393 |
|
|
Environmental Protection Agency
|
$311 |
|
|
Department of Interior
|
$222 |
|
|
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
|
$170 |
|
|
TOTAL |
$12,014 |
|
Why This Legislation Is Important
The Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023 builds on annual appropriations for carbon removal research and other federal funding for carbon removal that has grown significantly in the past few years but remains lower than what is needed. The level of funding authorized by this bill is aligned with levels recommended by major reports on carbon dioxide removal research agendas from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the Energy Futures Initiative, which both recommend ten-year federal carbon removal research, development and demonstration programs on the order of $10 billion.
In addition to supporting research, development and demonstration across a wide range of carbon removal approaches and technologies on land and in the ocean, the bill includes an emphasis on better understanding environmental impacts as well as social and community impacts of scaling up different CDR pathways. These types of research are critical to making sure that carbon removal is not only beneficial in terms of the global climate, but also that it is minimizing local risks to people and the environment.
The bill also includes a short but important section on developing a plan to increase international coordination on carbon removal research, development and demonstration, which will be beneficial to accelerating learning and progress in this area.
Overall, this bill provides holistic accounting of the level of resources needed to seriously support carbon dioxide removal and ensure it can play an important role in a future climate action portfolio.
