One of CDR’s persistent problems is simply keeping track of itself. Dozens of pathways, hundreds of companies, thousands of papers — and no single place to see where things actually stand.

RMI and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability just launched a fix: an interactive CDR tracker that maps progress across 32 different carbon removal approaches.

What It Does

Built on RMI’s 2023 Applied Innovation Roadmap for CDR, the tracker is a live, searchable database covering:

  • Research status for each CDR pathway
  • Identified gaps where more science is needed
  • Funding needs and investment opportunities
  • Project-level data on companies and deployments

The goal is to make technological progress visible and accessible — to researchers, policymakers, investors, and project developers.

“A shared, public picture of where the field stands is how we move faster — from identifying gaps to targeting the investments and research that accelerate near-term deployment,” says Patrick Beary from Cornell Atkinson.

Why CDR Needs This

The CDR field grew fast in the early 2020s. Startups, research groups, and pilot projects multiplied across DAC, enhanced weathering, biochar, ocean-based methods, and more. But that rapid growth created a knowledge fragmentation problem: important work is happening everywhere, but few people have a comprehensive view.

For investors, that means missed opportunities. For researchers, it means duplicated effort. For policymakers, it means decisions based on incomplete pictures.

CDI’s own research — from our proxy measurement series to portfolio spotlights on companies like Everest — contributes to exactly this kind of public knowledge building. Tools that aggregate and organize the field make everyone smarter.

Source: RMI

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