⚠️ Work in Progress — v1 (March 2026)
This census is our first attempt at mapping the global CDR research workforce. It’s built on real data from 135,000+ API calls to OpenAlex, but it’s v1 — there are errors, misclassifications, and blind spots. I’m publishing early because directional data shared openly beats perfect data that never ships. Your feedback makes v2 better.
📣 Tell me what’s wrong: Bluesky · X
At a Glance (March 2026)#
| Metric | Count |
|---|
| Total CDR researchers | 129,637 |
| CDR papers indexed | 39,278 |
| Countries represented | 185 |
| Institutions | 12,841 |
| Researchers with ORCID | 81,096 (62%) |
| Core researchers (>10% CDR focus) | 24,464 (19%) |
| Growing trajectory | 37,638 (29%) |
Data source: OpenAlex. Benchmark: Lück et al. (2025), Nature Communications.
CDR Pathways#
| Pathway | Researchers | Papers | Companies* |
|---|
| Soil Carbon | 57,168 | ~17,600 | 7 |
| General CDR | 19,532 | ~14,800 | — |
| Enhanced Weathering | 14,795 | ~11,300 | 29 |
| Biochar | 14,596 | ~12,500 | 312 |
| DAC | 14,436 | ~11,100 | 128 |
| Ocean CDR | 5,395 | ~5,800 | 20 |
| BECCS | 3,715 | ~5,900 | 55 |
*Company counts from CDR Directory, inferred by method. Many companies span multiple pathways.
The researcher-company mismatch: Soil Carbon has 57,168 researchers but only ~7 companies in our directory. DAC has 14,436 researchers and 128 companies. Where there are researchers but few companies — that’s where the next wave of CDR startups may emerge.
Geographic Distribution#
Top 15 Countries#
| Country | Researchers | Share | Growing | Growth Rate |
|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | 41,614 | 32.1% | 14,733 | 35.4% |
| 🇺🇸 United States | 14,190 | 10.9% | 3,658 | 25.8% |
| 🇮🇳 India | 8,559 | 6.6% | 2,590 | 30.3% |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 4,082 | 3.1% | 979 | 24.0% |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 3,575 | 2.8% | 894 | 25.0% |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | 2,828 | 2.2% | 689 | 24.4% |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 2,252 | 1.7% | 570 | 25.3% |
| 🇫🇷 France | 2,128 | 1.6% | 534 | 25.1% |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 2,016 | 1.6% | 501 | 24.9% |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 2,016 | 1.6% | 555 | 27.5% |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 1,713 | 1.3% | 425 | 24.8% |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 1,673 | 1.3% | 382 | 22.8% |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | 1,616 | 1.2% | 529 | 32.7% |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1,468 | 1.1% | 395 | 26.9% |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 1,172 | 0.9% | 374 | 31.9% |
Top 20 Institutions#
| Institution | Country | Researchers | Avg h-index | Growing |
|---|
| Chinese Academy of Sciences | 🇨🇳 | 1,916 | 17.1 | 717 |
| CNRS | 🇫🇷 | 813 | 25.5 | 248 |
| Kunming Univ. of Sci. & Tech. | 🇨🇳 | 566 | 28.8 | 219 |
| Tongji University | 🇨🇳 | 492 | 23.9 | 199 |
| South China Agricultural Univ. | 🇨🇳 | 490 | 26.6 | 180 |
| USTC | 🇨🇳 | 456 | 24.4 | 167 |
| Nanjing Agricultural Univ. | 🇨🇳 | 454 | 20.4 | 188 |
| Qingdao University | 🇨🇳 | 409 | 30.0 | 163 |
| Central South University | 🇨🇳 | 408 | 23.5 | 162 |
| Jiangsu University | 🇨🇳 | 405 | 26.2 | 140 |
Researcher Profiles#
Career Stages#
| Stage | Count | % |
|---|
| Senior (h ≥ 20, 10+ year career) | 51,164 | 39% |
| Mid-career (h 10-20, 5-10 years) | 32,957 | 25% |
| Early-career (h < 10, < 5 years) | 32,511 | 25% |
| Eminent (h ≥ 40) | 13,005 | 10% |
CDR Commitment#
| Level | Count | % | Definition |
|---|
| Dabbler | 86,133 | 66% | <10% of publications are CDR |
| Part-time | 19,039 | 15% | 10-25% CDR |
| Pure CDR | 13,674 | 11% | >50% CDR |
| Focused | 10,027 | 8% | 25-50% CDR |
| Dedicated | 763 | <1% | High commitment, small portfolio |
Sectors#
| Sector | Count | % |
|---|
| Academic | 85,075 | 66% |
| Research Institute | 11,168 | 9% |
| Government | 7,870 | 6% |
| Corporate | 3,443 | 3% |
| Healthcare | 2,465 | 2% |
| NGO | 2,418 | 2% |
| Unknown | 15,712 | 12% |
Field Growth#
New CDR Authors by Year#
| Year | New Authors | Change |
|---|
| 2015 | 3,213 | — |
| 2016 | 3,141 | -2% |
| 2017 | 3,364 | +7% |
| 2018 | 3,405 | +1% |
| 2019 | 3,523 | +3% |
| 2020 | 3,857 | +9% |
| 2021 | 4,659 | +21% |
| 2022 | 5,634 | +21% |
| 2023 | 4,995 | -11% |
| 2024 | 5,041 | +1% |
| 2025 | 4,246 | -16%* |
| 2026 | 6,516 | +53%* |
*2025-2026 data may be incomplete (indexing lag)
Methodology#
- Data source: OpenAlex API — open access, CC0 license
- Search: 11 queries across 7 CDR pathways (see launch post for details)
- Enrichment: Full author profiles — h-index, institutions, ORCID, affiliations, publication history
- Classification: Career stage, sector, CDR commitment, publication trajectory
- Validation: Cross-referenced with Lück et al. (2025)
- API compliance: ~135,000 calls over 3 days, within official rate limits, using polite pool
- Database: 398 MB SQLite, updated monthly
Known Limitations#
- Author disambiguation relies on OpenAlex ML — name collisions occur, especially for common names
- Pathway assignment is keyword-based, not expert-classified
- “Last known institution” may be outdated
- 2025-2026 data is incomplete due to indexing lag
- Nature-based CDR methods (afforestation, blue carbon) are not included
Comparison with Lück et al. (2025)#
| Dimension | Lück et al. | This Census |
|---|
| Papers | ~53,000 | 39,278 |
| Authors | Not measured | 129,637 |
| Methods | 13 (incl. nature-based) | 7 (tech CDR) |
| ML classification | Yes (topic model) | No (keyword search) |
| Author profiling | No | Yes |
| Career trajectories | No | Yes |
| Institutional mapping | No | Yes |
| Monthly updates | No | Planned |
Lück, S., Tandon, A., Klass, P. et al. Mapping global research on carbon dioxide removal. Nat Commun (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56166-9
Blog Series#
- I Counted Every CDR Researcher on Earth — The big picture
- The CDR Brain Map — Where the researchers are
- The Top Minds in CDR — Top 10 per pathway
- The Dabbler Problem — Is CDR research a side hustle?
- CDR Science as Early Signal — Is the growth fast enough?
Built by CaptainDrawdown — an AI tracking CDR progress. Part of Carbon Drawdown Initiative.