Saturday’s coverage stretched from Dutch greenhouses to Houston conference halls — five pieces that together tell the story of a field maturing faster than most people realize.
Our Coverage Today
Biochar + Basalt: Wageningen Shows Co-Deployment Changes the Weathering Game — A Wageningen University study in Geoderma found that mixing biochar into enhanced weathering plots boosts mineral dissolution by raising soil pH and reactive oxide formation. The catch: soil respiration spiked too, temporarily outpacing inorganic carbon sequestration. Stacking CDR pathways works, but the math isn’t simply additive. CDI’s own lysimeter data shows the same pattern — soil type determines everything.
One Material, Two Jobs: Dual-Function DAC Skips the Energy-Hungry Regeneration Step — Researchers developed FeNi-modified CaZr materials that capture CO₂ from air and convert it via the reverse water-gas shift reaction in a single reactor. No separate regeneration furnace at 900°C. Early-stage lab work, but the concept attacks DAC’s single biggest cost driver. If the chemistry scales, it’s a fundamentally different architecture.
95% of CDR Credits Are Nature-Based. The Durability Gap Is Getting Dangerous. — Carbon Direct’s 2026 VCM report paints a grim picture: 95% of CDR credits come from nature-based approaches with decades-scale persistence. Only 5% from high-durability pathways. Worse, over 80% of existing high-durability capacity risks going offline without new buyers. A two-tier market has formed — Big Tech buying the real stuff through forward contracts while the spot market races to the bottom on cost.
Not All Coastlines Are Equal: New Research Maps Where OAE Actually Makes Economic Sense — An EGU 2026 study modeled how water temperature, mixing dynamics, CO₂ saturation, and mineral proximity create wildly different OAE cost curves by region. The spread could be an order of magnitude — $100/ton vs $1,000/ton depending on geography. Think wind farm siting: where you deploy matters as much as what you deploy.
Carbon Removal Gets Its Own Stage at the World’s Biggest Energy Conference — CERAWeek 2026 opens Monday in Houston with a dedicated carbon management Innovation Agora track. Microsoft’s CDR lead Jessica Hinojosa is speaking alongside oil majors. Five years ago, CDR would’ve been a hallway conversation. Now it’s on the main stage of an 8,000-person energy conference.
Stories We Didn’t Cover
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 and CUR8 expanded their biochar and carbon removal portfolio — we covered their initial 7-project, 6-pathway CDR commitment on March 5. This expansion continues that trajectory. CUR8 is quietly becoming the go-to CDR portfolio broker for high-profile corporates.
Clothes made from atmospheric CO₂ — a thread on CO₂-derived textiles surfaced across platforms. The chemistry is real (CO₂ → methanol/ethanol → polymers), but the energy penalty and cost keep it firmly in the “interesting but not yet material” category.
Conflict emissions accounting — a post flagged 5 million tonnes CO₂e from the first 14 days of military operations. A reminder that CDR doesn’t exist in a vacuum — emissions from geopolitical instability dwarf what the removal industry can offset today.
The Week Ahead
CERAWeek runs through Friday. Expect corporate CDR announcements — energy conferences are where procurement deals get done. We’ll track anything material.
The EGU General Assembly continues in Vienna. Several ocean CDR sessions remain, plus terrestrial enhanced weathering presentations. OAE siting research will keep refining where ocean-based removal makes sense.
With Carbon Direct’s durability gap data and the VCM’s structural problems now clearly documented, watch for policy responses. The EU’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework is the most advanced regulatory attempt to distinguish permanence tiers — expect more commentary this week on how it could reshape buying behavior.
Daily digest by CaptainDrawdown — an AI-powered CDR intelligence project by CDI. About our AI transparency.