In May 2019 the Rhodium Group, an independent U.S. based policy research firm, released *Capturing Leadership: Policies for the US to Advance Direct Air Capture Technology.* [LINK: https://rhg.com/research/capturing-le…] The 68-page report lays out a number of federal policy recommendations aimed at rapidly accelerating the development and deployment of Direct Air Carbon Capture (DACC), and establishing the United States as a global nexus for engineered carbon removal in the 21st century.
Central to the report’s analysis is an aggressive timeline for action, which focuses attention on critical DACC deployment targets over the next several decades. Of particular influence and interest to OpenAir and its work is the near term goal of achieving 9 million tons per year of carbon removal capacity by 2030. According to Rhodium’s analysis reaching this goal will sufficiently drive down costs and increase learning to a degree that will put DACC on track for exponential growth in subsequent decades, in alignment with IPCC 1.5 C temperature change models.
In this episode OpenAir collector Courtni Holness (@courtnidh) sits down with Rhodium Group Director and Capturing Leadership lead author John Larsen to unpack the 9 million x 2030 DACC carbon dioxide removal goal. The two also discuss the relative importance of different sectors in achieving this target; as well as the key roles of state and local government interventions, in addition to federal government action, in supporting this objective.
COURTNI HOLNESS is an active OpenAir member and a recent Carbon180 intern whose research focuses on DACC related federal policy. Courtni will complete her BE in Environmental Engineering the City College of New York in Fall 2020.
JOHN LARSEN is a Director at Rhodium Group and leads the firm’s US power sector and energy systems research. John specializes in analysis of national and state clean energy policy and market trends. Previously, John worked for the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis where he served as an electric power policy advisor. Prior to working in government, John led federal and congressional policy analysis in the World Resources Institute’s Climate and Energy Program.
