The Carbon Removal Scoop

Aviation is responsible for almost 1Gt of CO2 emissions, or 2.5% of global emissions. Up to 4% when accounting for non-CO2 climate warming effects. And demand is only going up: 3-4% year-on-year.

Aviation is also notoriously hard to decarbonise: most hope is placed on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Given there will always be considerable residual emissions (ICAO: 200Mt-950Mt in 2050), carbon removal is central to aviation’s net-zero aspiration for 2050.

From a policy perspective, it is incredibly challenging to regulate, as 61% of aviation emissions are emitted on international flights and only 39% within a single country’s boundaries.

A promising solution is emission trading systems for domestic/regional emissions (think EU ETS) and CORSIA for international emissions.

Sounds easy? The reality is incredibly complex, messy, and potentially worrying.

Listen in to hear Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart unpack this topic and provide clear solutions for what could be done in future.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• People love flying, and that is not going to change
• The complex CORSIA vs EU ETS nexus
• E-fuels or storage – how to make the most of clean electricity and captured CO2
• ReFuelEU Aviation
• CORSIA

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Will the EU need 2x as much CDR?

The highly anticipated 333-page milestone report on carbon removal by Europe's Scientific Advisory Board has landed, promising to be the most comprehensive analysis of CDR to date. 

Does this heavyweight report deliver the strategic guidance needed to shape effective EU CDR policy? What other crucial insights does it offer – and more importantly, what might it have missed?

Eve and Sebastian delve into the report and share their take.

Tune in to find out more.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Report: ‘Scaling up carbon dioxide removals – Recommendations for navigating opportunities and risks in the EU’ by the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change
• Eve’s findings on the 333-page CDR report
• Will the EU need twice as much CDR as expected?
• Supercharging carbon removal from the EU’s land sector

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In February 2025, all probationary contract staff at the Department of Energy were terminated, including the most incredibly talented and experienced people who had turned the U.S. into a CDR powerhouse over the previous years.

What does this - alongside the freezing of IRA and BIL funds - mean for CDR in the U.S. moving forward? How will DAC Hubs be affected? What about the Public Procurement Purchase Prize?

To make sense of this very difficult and sensitive situation, Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart are joined by the one and only Noah Deich, who initiated and led many of the CDR initiatives the DoE became famous for.

Tune in to find out more.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Noah Deich: LinkedIn
• Reversing Climate Change Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
• Sebastian’s post about CDR in DoE and follow-up/apology
• X-Prize $100M Prize For Carbon Removal

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Emission trading systems (ETS) are often touted as the largest potential source of demand for carbon dioxide removal (CDR), providing a large, predictable market worth billions. 

The EU ETS is by far the largest and most successful in the world, with its market size around 900 billion EUR and carbon price climbing over 80 EUR/t. 

2025 is the time when a lot of decisions to critical questions will need to be answered. From the design of such integration, to a selection of which CDR technologies, to the volume allowed.

Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart debate this hot topic where their views don’t always align.

Tune in to find out more.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Should biochar carbon removal (BCR) be integrated into the EU Emission Trading System?
• Carbon removals in the EU ETS. Good idea? Bad idea?
• Should negative emissions be included in the EU ETS?
• How to include carbon removals in the EU ETS?
• Putting the ‘Net’ in Net Zero: Carbon Removals and the EU Emissions Trading System
• The Balancing Act: Risks and Benefits of Integrating Permanent Carbon Removals into the EU ETS

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In carbon removal policy circles, three simple words - like-for-like - seem to come up more and more. It is a simple and obvious concept that is actually incredibly complex and misunderstood.

Robert Höglund joins Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart in exploring like-for-like as a concept, why it is becoming a core pillar of CDR policy design and what net-zero targets should actually look like.

Tune in to find out more

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Robert Höglund: LinkedIn, Website and Substack
• Geological Net Zero and the need for disaggregated accounting for carbon sinks
• The hidden risk in net zero targets: why storage durability matters
• How much carbon will we need to remove?

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On January 28th, the European Commission hosted a long-awaited workshop on public funding for permanent CDR. Expectations were high - maybe too high?

What came out of it and what is lined up for funding of CDR in Europe? Both Eve (in person) and Sebastian (remote) attended, and are bringing you all the insights you need to know.

Tune in to find out more

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian’s critique on the report presented during the workshop.
• Official EU page for CDR funding (workshop recording should be uploaded here soon)
• Carbon Gap event on February 18th on CDR Funding in Europe

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Donald J. Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. As soon as he took office, executive orders were signed affecting all areas of the U.S. society and economy, including climate and CDR. 

Joined by Erin Burns, the Executive Director of the U.S.’ leading CDR nonprofit Carbon180, Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart try to make sense of a dynamic and fragile situation.

From the impact on the international stage, to how existing policy successes can be defended, to changes in narrative we might - or maybe absolutely shouldn’t - adopt.

Tune in to find out more.

Links:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Erin Burns: LinkedIn
• Podcast on this topic on Foresight Media
• Analysis on this topic in the Carbonfuture Magazine
• Trump’s executive order on international environmental agreements

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What will be the main themes and developments this year?

2025 will likely be the biggest year for CDR policy to date. Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart compared and discussed their top 5 predictions, covering national, regional, and global CDR policy.

Tune in to get to know what to look out for in 2025.

Show notes:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website

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The EU’s 2040 Climate Target(s): hope in difficult times or empty promises?

In 2025, the European Union will attempt to formalise a binding target for emission reduction in 2040. This would complement the existing 55% reduction target for 2030 and a climate neutrality target for 2050.

As of today, the European Commission plans to recommend an ambitious 90% reduction target for 2040. In the current political landscape, this will be a contested proposal.

What about the role of carbon dioxide removal? Will we be seeing the much asked for dedicated durable CDR target? 

For the last CDR Policy Scoop of the year, Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart dive into this hot topic, which will likely shape much of 2025’s climate advocacy work in the EU.

Find out more:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• EU 2040 Target
• Project Co2ol Down
• The EU’s 2040 Climate Target — context, scope and design

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The CRCF - the gold standard for CDR certification?

Some see it as the world's most important CDR policy, others just as an empty shell with no clear impact. 

In this CDR Policy Scoop, Eve Tamme and Sebastian Manhart dive into this hot topic they both feel very passionately about.

Tune in to hear where it currently stands, what some of the sticking points are, and how it will fit into European climate policy (or not).

Find out more:

• Eve Tamme: LinkedIn and Website
• Sebastian Manhart: LinkedIn and Website
• Background piece on the CRCF
• Analysis of the October CRCF Expert Workshop
• Will the Carbon Removal Certification Framework count in the race to climate neutrality?

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