Buying The Sky: The Race to Gigatons of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Planet earth has never been this hot and polluted in all of human history. Every ambition by governments, corporations, or citizens to cut climate pollution relies on some method to pull pollution from the sky in large amounts. In 2024, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, ocean temperatures, and average air temperatures have all reached epoch high levels, while sea ice and glaciers continue disappearing. By 2050, the European Commission estimates the region will need 450 million tons of carbon dioxide removal a year. The crucial element of any net-zero scenario is some method to offset climate pollution already in the atmosphere by deploying technologies that remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions offer some options to pull pollution from the sky or wherever else it can be diverted before it does damage. We focus on the stocks part of the system of the carbon dioxide now hanging in the atmosphere problem, seeking solutions via novel direct air capture (DAC) technologies. This course explores the technologies, models, and methods being deployed to bend down the centuries-long arc of increasing industrial-scale climate pollution from cross-disciplinary perspectives. Using current academic research, practitioner research reports from pilot projects and lab work, and portfolio decarbonization paths, this course explores the theories and practices in DAC and durable storage. Only pilot-stage projects are evident, despite the increasingly obvious need to scrub the air and the influence of consulting firms such as McKinsey and BCG. Locations for DAC CDR impact local communities and must vie for limited renewable power resources against the artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled demand for data centers. We use guest lectures from the inventors, engineers, policy-makers, and investors who are trying to win the race to zero, and draw upon projects from around the world and available case studies. Of all the climate problems to solve, none is larger than removing and returning greenhouse gas pollution to the geologic cycle. This course focuses on what successes are possible and how we can learn from the failures, cut through the greenwashing, and explore what lies ahead.