Winning the Race To Zero: Opportunities and Challenges for Negative Emissions Technologies

Planet earth has never been this hot and polluted in all of human history. 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. BloombergNEF reports that global carbon capture and storage capacity was only 50 million tons in 2022. 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. Every ambition by governments, corporations, and citizens to cut climate pollution and slow the momentum of the Anthropocene relies upon some method to pull pollution from the sky in large amounts. Negative emissions technologies (NET) offer some options to succeed in pulling pollution from the sky or wherever else it can be diverted before it does damage. This course is designed to be inclusive and draw perspectives across borders to explore the technologies, models, and methods being deployed to bend down the long, rising arc tracing centuries of increasing industrial-scale climate pollution. Using the most recent academic research, practitioner research reports from pilot projects and lab work, and portfolio decarbonization paths, this course explores the theories and practices in direct air capture and carbon capture and long term storage. For example, we reference global frameworks such as the revised Oxford Offsetting Principles 2024, investments in advanced market commitments by Shopify's sustainability fund, and the progress by Norway's Blomoyna project. To provide students with the most relevant material, we employ guest lectures from the inventors, engineers, policymakers, and investors who are trying to win the race to zero. We draw upon projects from around the world and available Harvard Business School case studies on, for example, Climeworks, Total Energies, and green steel. 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 to learn from failures, cut through the greenwashing, and explore what lies ahead.