Navigating the intricate landscape of the carbon removal and climate industry can sometimes be a challenge with the many terminologies that exist, each carrying its own distinctions. In this rapidly evolving sector, staying up-to-date with all the terms and acronyms is crucial to understanding the industry.
To provide clarity, here is a comprehensive guide to everything needed to understand the carbon removal industry lingo. By unraveling these terms, this guide aims to empower individuals and businesses alike to make informed decisions and contribute to the global effort of solving climate change.
Carbon Footprint
A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide an individual, organization, or product emits typically due to the use of fossil fuels.
CDR: Carbon Dioxide Removal
Carbon Dioxide Removal refers to various techniques and technologies aimed at removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to combat climate change.
GHG: Greenhouse Gas
Greenhouse Gas refers to gasses such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
These gasses trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to global warming. In the context of climate change, methane and carbon dioxide are the dominant focal points for emission reduction and removal.
GGR: Greenhouse Gas Removal
Another less common term for carbon removal. Greenhouse Gas Removal encompasses strategies and technologies designed to actively remove greenhouse gases, including CO2, from the atmosphere.
NETs: Negative Emissions Technologies
Negative Emissions Technologies are approaches and tools used to achieve negative emissions (i.e. carbon removal), meaning they remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than they emit. NETs can help mitigate climate change by reducing overall atmospheric CO2 levels.
MRV: Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification
MRV is a multi-step process that tracks and ensures the accuracy of greenhouse gas removal data. In turn, it helps countries and organizations fulfill their climate commitments.
Additionality
Carbon offset and removal projects should provide an extra reduction in carbon emissions that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Additionality guarantees that carbon projects are creating additional reductions of carbon on top of reductions that are naturally occurring.
Permanence
When referring to carbon removal projects, permanence is the amount of time that carbon emissions will remain sequestered. That is, the duration of time that carbon is locked away from the carbon cycle. Carbon removal can either be low permanence ranging from years to decades or high permanence in the order of thousands of years.
Durability
Often interchangeable with permanence, durability refers to the amount of time carbon removal methods keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere after sequestration.
CCU: Carbon Capture Utilization
Carbon Capture Utilization involves capturing CO2 emissions from industrial processes or power plants and then utilizing it for various purposes.
Utilization in this case includes for converted products for example, e-fuels, building materials, and chemicals & plastics, or converted use such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR), agricultural yield boosting, and other applications.
Not all utilization has the same sustainability outcome, falling anywhere between net negative, net zero, or net addition of carbon in the atmosphere depending on the final product.
CCS: Carbon Capture and Storage
Carbon Capture and Storage is a subset of CCUS that specifically focuses on capturing CO2 emissions and securely storing them underground, preventing their release into the atmosphere.
CCUS: Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage
The umbrella term for carbon capture, including both CCS and CCU.
BECCS: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage combines bioenergy production with CCS. The technology captures the CO2 emissions from biogenic energy processes and sequesters it underground for carbon removal. The difference between BECCS (net negative) and CCS with oil & gas (net zero at best) have been covered extensively in this article here.
DAC: Direct Air Capture
Direct Air Capture technology intakes air and filters out the CO2 from the other gasses. The CO2 is then sequestered for carbon removal.
ERW: Enhanced Rock Weathering
This carbon removal method accelerates the natural weathering process by placing silicate rock onto other surfaces. Doing so speeds up the chemical reaction between rocks, weather, and air, thus removing CO2 in the process by storing it in carbonate minerals.
BiCRS: Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage
This carbon removal method refers to a range of processes that use biomass to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it underground or as long-lived products, such as concrete, durable carbon or biochar .
Biochar or BCR: Biochar Carbon Removal
Biochar is biomass that undergoes pyrolysis, meaning it’s heated at high temperatures. Pyrolysis creates concentrated carbon from the biochar and in order to remove it, the carbon is applied to soil to be sequestered.
OAE: Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement
Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement inserts alkaline substances to seawater to enhance the ocean’s natural carbon sink. This is considered nature-based carbon removal.
SCS: Soil Carbon Sequestration
Sometimes called regenerative agriculture, SCS involves land management that allows soil to absorb and store more carbon content to generate net removal of CO2.
Ex-situ Mineralization
Above-ground mineralization is known as ex-situ and is the method used for enhanced weathering and carbon capture with concrete.
In-situ Mineralization
Underground, or in-situ, mineralization occurs when CO2 reacts with alkaline rock and solidifies as carbonate. In-situ mineralization occurs with Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) technologies like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) when injecting carbon into geological formations.
LULUCF: Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry
LULUCF is a sector that involves the management of land such as agriculture and forestry. It is unique in that it’s a sector that can both produce emissions and also provide products that reduce emissions in other industries, like biomass for bioenergy facilities and BECCS.
Regenerative Agriculture
This involves holistic, agricultural practices that work to protect and preserve the surrounding environment and sequester more carbon within soil.. Regenerative agriculture includes employing methods that reduce water use, promote biodiversity, and support climate resilience.
Afforestation
The practice of establishing a forest in a location where one did not previously exist in order to increase natural carbon sinks.
Reforestation
The practice of intentionally planting trees in an existing forest where trees have been depleted. Regrowing a forest in this way helps reestablish natural carbon sinks that previously existed.
Deforestation
Any practice that results in loss of forested lands for non-forest purposes, thus leading to the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation often involves the burning of trees which releases carbon dioxide and a reduction in carbon dioxide absorbed by the affected forest.
Adjacent Terminology in the Industry
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been in operation for 35 years. It’s tasked with the responsibility of assembling reviews and recommendations regarding the science of climate change, its social and economic impacts, as well as possible responses to climate change.
AR6: The Sixth Assessment Report by the IPCC
The latest report published by the IPCC and with separate contributions by three working groups. It assesses the physical scientific basis of the climate system, evaluates how climate affects socio-economic and natural systems, and explores all possible options for addressing and solving the climate crisis. AR6 serves as a resource for global climate negotiations and policymaking.
COP: Conference of the Parties
The United Nations COP occurs annually and consists of multiple gatherings where representatives from various countries unite to discuss climate change and collaborate on mitigation efforts.
WMO: World Meteorological Organization
With over 193 member states and territories, the WMO is an intergovernmental organization of the United Nations that focuses on international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Signed in 1992 by 154 states, the UNFCCC is an agreement that established an international environmental treaty to fight against “dangerous human interference with the climate system. ” In called for the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, continued scientific research, negotiations, and policy agreements.
