Today’s digest covers 2 CDR stories. Themes: science. Today’s stories#Decarbonization pathways for Canada’s federated energy system using a subnational integrated assessment model | npj Climate Action A climate in crisis calls for investment in direct air capture, new research finds | ScienceDaily

The latest research from UC San Diego, published in Nature Communications, offers a fascinating thought experiment on the role of Direct Air Capture (DAC) in addressing the climate crisis. The study posits a “wartime-level” funding scenario, envisioning an emergency response akin to national mobilizations during wars or pandemics. This isn’t just academic; it reflects a growing sentiment that incremental action might no longer suffice. The core finding is striking: if an emergency DAC program were to commence in 2025, receiving an annual investment of 1.2-1.9% of global GDP, it could remove 2.2-2.3 gigatons of CO2 by 2050 and a staggering 13-20 gigatons by 2075. Cumulatively, from 2025 to 2100, this program could sequester 570-840 gigatons of CO2. These figures are squarely within the range that IPCC scenarios suggest will be needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals. For context, the entire global energy system currently emits around 37 gigatons of CO2 annually. Imagine scrubbing 20 gigatons in a single year, let alone hundreds over decades. ...

Just read a fascinating study in npj Climate Action by Awais, Azevedo, and McPherson, which digs into Canada’s path to Net Zero by 2050 using their new MESSAGEix-Canada model. This isn’t just another high-level projection; it’s Canada’s first open-source, sub-national integrated assessment model, meaning it actually accounts for the distinct differences across provinces — a crucial detail given Canada’s highly federated energy system and diverse regional economies. The big takeaway? Achieving Net Zero in Canada is technically feasible and, surprisingly, cost-effective at the system level. The study found that a Net Zero scenario doesn’t even require an increase in total energy system investments compared to a “Legislated pathway.” Instead, it’s about reallocating capital — shifting funds away from fossil fuel supply and towards electrification, efficiency improvements, clean hydrogen, and the necessary enabling infrastructure. This is a powerful message: it’s not necessarily more expensive, just different. ...

A new study published on arXiv (Fernandes et al., March 2026) extends the sector-coupled European energy system model PyPSA-Eur to include four CDR pathways that most previous models have ignored or underweighted: afforestation, perennialisation, biochar, and enhanced rock weathering (ERW). The results are striking — and structurally important for anyone thinking about CDR deployment priorities in Europe. The Core Finding: CDR Makes the System 9% Cheaper#The model, run at 3-hourly resolution across 90 European nodes, finds that a climate-neutral energy system equipped with these CDR strategies is 9% less expensive than an equivalent system that relies only on direct electrification and point-source capture. ...

Today’s digest covers 2 CDR stories. Today’s stories#That there’s moral hazard in promoting Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) when it is actually morally wrong to not promote CDR How Can Direct Air Capture Scale to Deliver Real Carbon Removal for Climate Solutions Also on the radar#High-scoring stories from today’s newsroom scan that didn’t make the cut: A climate in crisis calls for investment in direct air capture, new research finds | ScienceDaily — A climate in crisis calls for investment in direct air capture, new research finds | ScienceDaily ...

Microsoft just signed a 15-year offtake agreement for 626,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from a BECCS project in Saskatchewan. The deal is with Svante’s subsidiary Carbon Alpha and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) — making this one of the largest Indigenous-partnered CDR deals on record. The Numbers#The North Star project will capture up to 90,000 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ per year at full capacity. The facility sits alongside the MLTC Bioenergy Centre, which generates renewable power from waste biomass sourced from local forestry operations. Captured CO₂ gets transported and permanently stored in geological formations underground. ...

Direct air capture keeps landing in the headlines as the technology the climate needs but can’t yet afford. The TechTimes piece this week lays out the central tension clearly: DAC works in the lab, it works at small scale, and there are real tonnes of CO2 being removed right now — but the cost curve hasn’t bent fast enough and the deployment pipeline is still tiny relative to what the IPCC scenarios require. ...

Today’s digest covers 5 CDR stories. Themes: market. Across today’s stories, a consistent thread emerges: the CDR field is moving from proof-of-concept to deployment — with capital, policy, and measurement catching up to the science. Today’s stories#CDR Company Directory Update — April 2026 CDR Daily Digest — April 3, 2026 CDR Misconception #4: Carbon credits are all scams CUR8 and Isometric Launch Joint 2030 Portfolio CDR Offering ...

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Most biochar research runs for months, sometimes a year or two. Lab-scale experiments under controlled conditions, extrapolated to predictions about decades of performance. The data is useful, but the extrapolation introduces uncertainty that makes it hard to make confident claims about long-term carbon storage or soil remediation. A new study published in Biochar (Ma et al., 2026) breaks this pattern. Fourteen years of continuous field data, agricultural soils, real-world conditions. And the findings strengthen the case for biochar as a dual-benefit intervention: carbon sequestration and soil remediation simultaneously. ...