Carbon Dioxide Removal is an industrial-scale strategy to hold climate change in check. Five experts weigh in on CDR’s potential, challenges and moral hazards.

---

The global effort to slow the pace of climate change will require that two basic strategies be implemented on a massive scale. The first strategy is well known, and involves shifting away from today’s fossil-fuel dependent energy system, and toward a future where nearly everything will run on electricity produced by zero-carbon resources.

The second part of the effort to combat climate change has, until recently, attracted relatively less attention. Carbon dioxide removal is the process of removing carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere. CDR can be used to offset some of today’s CO2 emissions, and might some day even be able to turn back the clock, by lowering the concentration of atmospheric carbon to levels that existed on an earlier, less hot Earth. CDR will be a key part of any plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century, as the United States, the European Union, and a growing number of countries have proposed to do.

In the podcast, five experts discuss CDR in its many forms, from cutting edge technologies to fundamental nature-based processes, and explore the complex, industrial-scale undertaking that will be required to remove CO2 at scale. The guests, whose research is available in the newly published, online CDR Primer, also look at potential moral hazards, equity challenges and unforeseen consequences of carbon dioxide removal.

Erica L. Belmont is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming.

Jeremy Freeman is Executive Director at CarbonPlan

Noah McQueen is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania

Peter Psarras is research assistant professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania

Toly Rinberg is an Applied Physics Ph.D. Student at Harvard University

Related Content

Have We Reached Peak Carbon Emissions? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/have-we-reached-peak-carbon-emissions/

The Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-essential-role-of-negative-emissions-in-getting-to-carbon-neutral/

Carbon Dioxide Removal is an industrial-scale strategy to hold climate change in check. Five experts weigh in on CDR’s potential, challenges and moral hazards.---The global effort to slow the pace of climate change will require that two basic strategies be implemented on a massive scale. The first strategy is well known, and involves shifting away from today’s fossil-fuel dependent energy system, and toward a future where nearly everything will run on electricity produced by zero-carbon resources.The second part of the effort to combat climate change has, until recently, attracted relatively less attention. Carbon dioxide removal is the process of removing carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere. CDR can be used to offset some of today’s CO2 emissions, and might some day even be able to turn back the clock, by lowering the concentration of atmospheric carbon to levels that existed on an earlier, less hot Earth. CDR will be a key part of any plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century, as the United States, the European Union, and a growing number of countries have proposed to do.In the podcast, five experts discuss CDR in its many forms, from cutting edge technologies to fundamental nature-based processes, and explore the complex, industrial-scale undertaking that will be required to remove CO2 at scale. The guests, whose research is available in the newly published, online CDR Primer, also look at potential moral hazards, equity challenges and unforeseen consequences of carbon dioxide removal.Erica L. Belmont is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming.Jeremy Freeman is Executive Director at CarbonPlanNoah McQueen is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the University of PennsylvaniaPeter Psarras is research assistant professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of PennsylvaniaToly Rinberg is an Applied Physics Ph.D. Student at Harvard UniversityRelated ContentHave We Reached Peak Carbon Emissions? <a href='https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/have-we-reached-peak-carbon-emissions/'>https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/have-we-reached-peak-carbon-emissions/</a>The Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral <a href='https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-essential-role-of-negative-emissions-in-getting-to-carbon-neutral/'>https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-essential-role-of-negative-emissions-in-getting-to-carbon-neutral/</a>

Energy Policy Now offers clear talk on the policy issues that define our relationship to energy and its impact on society and the environment. The series is produced by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and hosted by energy journalist Andy Stone. Join Andy in conversation with leaders from industry, government, and academia as they shed light on today's pressing energy policy debates.

Energy Policy Now

Energy Policy Now offers clear talk on the policy issues that define our relationship to energy and its impact on society and the environment. The series is produced by <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/">the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania and hosted by energy journalist Andy Stone. Join Andy in conversation with leaders from industry, government, and academia as they shed light on today's pressing energy policy debates.

A Primer On Carbon Dioxide Removal

Carnot Prize recipient Jacqueline Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.

---

In 2009 Jacqueline Patterson became the founding director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. It was a role that Patterson, who’s this year’s recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize, had expected to be short lived: she’d stay on just long enough to get the program underway.

By the time she did move on 12 years later, she had made significant progress in raising understanding of the connection between environmental damage and the lived experience in some of this country’s most impoverished and vulnerable communities. As an advocate for climate justice, she has worked to address the fact that environmental damage increases the economic and health burdens on disadvantaged communities, and makes it more challenging to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization.

Today Patterson serves as the executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, where her work empowers communities of color on the front lines of climate change, ensuring they have the resources, tools, and leadership to amplify their voices in policymaking. Her efforts focus on making the clean energy transition a genuine opportunity for justice and equity.

Jacqueline Patterson is executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project and the 2024 recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions in the area of energy policy.

Related Content

Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transitionhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/

Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/



Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Carnot Prize recipient Jacqueline Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.
---
In 2009 Jacqueline Patterson became the founding director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. It was a role that Patterson, who’s this year’s recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize, had expected to be short lived: she’d stay on just long enough to get the program underway.
By the time she did move on 12 years later, she had made significant progress in raising understanding of the connection between environmental damage and the lived experience in some of this country’s most impoverished and vulnerable communities. As an advocate for climate justice, she has worked to address the fact that environmental damage increases the economic and health burdens on disadvantaged communities, and makes it more challenging to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization.
Today Patterson serves as the executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, where her work empowers communities of color on the front lines of climate change, ensuring they have the resources, tools, and leadership to amplify their voices in policymaking. Her efforts focus on making the clean energy transition a genuine opportunity for justice and equity.
Jacqueline Patterson is executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project and the 2024 recipient of the Kleinman Center’s Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions in the area of energy policy.
Related Content
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/">Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transition</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/beyond-labor-the-expanding-scope-of-the-just-energy-transition/</a>
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/">Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? Should ‘Energy Hogs’ Shoulder More of the Utility Cost Burden? </a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/should-energy-hogs-shoulder-more-of-the-utility-cost-burden/</a>
 
Energy Policy Now is produced by <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu</a>

2024 Carnot Prize winner Jacqui Patterson explores how the clean energy transition can drive meaningful progress toward energy and climate justice.

Empowering Communities for Climate and Energy Justice

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.

---

The term “just transition” has its roots in organized labor movements, and has traditionally referred to the idea that workers in the fossil fuel economy must find security in the green energy economy of the future as well. Yet, increasingly, this understanding of what a just transition entails is viewed as overly narrow, and failing to address broad structural realities in our energy system that, if not addressed, will perpetuate a range of social, environmental, and economic inequalities.

This lack of a common definition extends to the highest levels of the global climate effort, with the United Nations acknowledging that the perception of what a just transition entails varies from country to country, potentially impacting the outcome of just transition efforts at the local level.

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the definition of the term just transition and how varying interpretations of it might limit, or enhance efforts to address broader inequalities that are inherent in our energy system. Jenkins, who is a senior lecturer in energy, environment and society at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, also discusses the need to expand just transition beyond its labor roots to a broader view on justice, and explores policies to put this broader view into practice.

Kirsten Jenkins is a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center and a senior lecturer in energy, environment, and society within the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Related Content

Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocolhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/

Climate Action in the Age of Great Power Rivalry: What Geopolitics Means for the Climatehttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/



Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.
---
The term “just transition” has its roots in organized labor movements, and has traditionally referred to the idea that workers in the fossil fuel economy must find security in the green energy economy of the future as well. Yet, increasingly, this understanding of what a just transition entails is viewed as overly narrow, and failing to address broad structural realities in our energy system that, if not addressed, will perpetuate a range of social, environmental, and economic inequalities.
This lack of a common definition extends to the highest levels of the global climate effort, with the United Nations acknowledging that the perception of what a just transition entails varies from country to country, potentially impacting the outcome of just transition efforts at the local level.
Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the definition of the term just transition and how varying interpretations of it might limit, or enhance efforts to address broader inequalities that are inherent in our energy system. Jenkins, who is a senior lecturer in energy, environment and society at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, also discusses the need to expand just transition beyond its labor roots to a broader view on justice, and explores policies to put this broader view into practice.
Kirsten Jenkins is a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center and a senior lecturer in energy, environment, and society within the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Related Content
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/</a>
<a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/">Climate Action in the Age of Great Power Rivalry: What Geopolitics Means for the Climate</a> <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/</a>
 
 Energy Policy Now is produced by <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy</a> at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit <a href="http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/">kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu</a>

Kleinman Center visiting scholar Kirsten Jenkins explores the concept of a just energy transition, and why it must be expanded beyond its labor roots to address broad energy system injustices.

Beyond Labor: The Expanding Scope of the Just Energy Transition

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.

---

The U.S. electrical grid is under growing stress, raising concern that recent widescale power outages may signal more grid challenges to come. In recent years, electricity demand has grown at an accelerating pace while, at the same time, power supply has tightened as existing power plants have retired and grid operators have struggled to bring new sources of power online.

Yet one promising solution to the grid’s challenges may already be in place, if grid operators and regulators can figure out how to use it to full advantage. ‘Virtual power plants’ can combine small, distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and demand response into a single, virtual whole that grid operators can deploy like a traditional powerplant. VPPs hold the promise of delivering large amounts of readily available and reliable energy services, if a number of regulatory and technological challenges can be overcome.

On the podcast Ryan Hledik, a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group, explores the potential of virtual power plants. He explains how VPPs work, discusses hurdles to their development, and considers policy solutions to speed their growth.

Ryan Hledik is a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group.

Related Content:

Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/

The Untapped Potential of “Repurposed Energy” https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.
---
The U.S. electrical grid is under growing stress, raising concern that recent widescale power outages may signal more grid challenges to come. In recent years, electricity demand has grown at an accelerating pace while, at the same time, power supply has tightened as existing power plants have retired and grid operators have struggled to bring new sources of power online.
Yet one promising solution to the grid’s challenges may already be in place, if grid operators and regulators can figure out how to use it to full advantage. ‘Virtual power plants’ can combine small, distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and demand response into a single, virtual whole that grid operators can deploy like a traditional powerplant. VPPs hold the promise of delivering large amounts of readily available and reliable energy services, if a number of regulatory and technological challenges can be overcome.
On the podcast Ryan Hledik, a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group, explores the potential of virtual power plants. He explains how VPPs work, discusses hurdles to their development, and considers policy solutions to speed their growth.
Ryan Hledik is a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group.
Related Content:
Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/</a>
The Untapped Potential of “Repurposed Energy” <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/">https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/</a>
Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed.

A Primer On Carbon Dioxide Removal

In 1 playlist(s)

Energy Policy Now

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips