Can We Pull Carbon Out of the Air?

The Paris Climate Agreement says we need to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050. That means for every new carbon molecule we put in the air, we have to take one out. Even the most optimistic forecasts still anticipate burning fossil fuels well past that date. So how do we balance the carbon books? Enter direct air capture, or DAC — a mechanical process that sucks carbon out of the atmosphere — which many believe will be crucial to controlling climate change. Right now the technology is extremely expensive, energy intensive, and has never been deployed at the scale necessary to make a difference. Host Arielle Duhaime-Ross speaks with the Dr. Klaus Lackner, known as the “godfather of carbon removal”; Dr. Susan Hovorka, a professor of geology who has been burying carbon underground for decades; and Dr. Emily Grubert, associate professor of sustainable energy policy at Notre Dame.

You can listen to Can We Pull Carbon Out of the Air? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Can We Pull Carbon Out of the Air? is an episode from The World as You'll Know It by Aventine.

This episode is 25:37 long.

This episode was published on Aug 13, 2024.

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