News

An Italian infrastructure group has earmarked €1 million to bolster its internal carbon removal unit, as disclosed in its 2025 integrated annual report. While the article from Carbon Pulse doesn’t name the specific group, the allocation itself, despite being a relatively modest sum in the broader climate finance landscape, offers a telling signal for the CDR sector. This isn’t an external purchase of credits on the voluntary carbon market (VCM); it’s a direct, internal investment into developing or scaling proprietary removal capabilities. ...

The latest “Deep Research — CDR Technology Spotlight” provides a timely snapshot of where several key removal pathways stand, and it’s clear the field is maturing, albeit unevenly. The article highlights significant strides in Direct Air Capture (DAC), noting the continued scaling efforts by players like 1PointFive, who recently broke ground on their first large-scale DAC plant in Texas, designed to capture up to 500,000 tons of CO2 annually. This move, backed by significant DOE funding and advance market commitments, signals a shift from pilot to industrial scale, a crucial hurdle for the entire sector. The piece also delves into the persistent challenge of cost, suggesting that while the $100/ton milestone for DAC remains elusive for current commercial operations, innovations in sorbent materials and energy efficiency are pushing projections closer, with some advanced concepts targeting sub-$200/ton within the next five years. ...

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 ...