The Latest from Our Blog

OpenAir’s response to OCED’s RFI concerning federal funding for state and local-level CDR procurement and advanced market commitments.

In January 2023, the U.S. Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) released a request for information on the “Department of Energy’s Use of Demand-Side Support for Clean Energy Technologies” (OCED-RFI-23-1.)...
Commentary
The Latest from Our Blog

Watch your language! (helpful hints on climate change communication)

This Scientific American article has some useful insights on what language about climate change may be more likely to engage and motivate people.  The Right Words Are Crucial to Solving...
News
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Is CDR just a smokescreen for Oil & Gas to maintain the status quo?

This is a frequent claim by opponents that while not necessarily wrong, should not keep us from doing what is necessary. What’s needed is a balanced approach. The fossil fuel...
CDReality
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Our Basic CDR FAQ

Here is some foundational info in short form for anyone getting ready to engage with CDR skeptics, opponents & newbies. If you’ve wrapped your head around these basics, you are...
CDReality
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Should we focus first on Decarbonization, and wait to do CDR later?

Decarbonization, or preventing future emissions through conversion of to zero carbon alternatives, is critically important. But we will need CDR as well, so we need to develop it now. You...
CDReality
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Is CDR a ‘Moral Hazard’?

It is sometimes said that “CDR creates a Moral Hazard”. Maybe, but that is a reason to craft proper policy, not to dismiss CDR. Moral hazard is an economic concept...
CDReality
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Planting trees – necessary but not enough.

We need to plant trees but that isn’t enough – we need to do more, and here’s why. The bottom line If we want any chance of limiting global warming...
CDReality
The Latest from Our Blog

CDReality: Is “CDR is a distraction from real solutions”?

Critics sometimes describe CDR as a “false solution” that distracts from the real solution, namely decarbonization. This is a false dichotomy and a misleading way to frame the issue. The...
CDReality

Latest Commentary

OpenAir’s response to OCED’s RFI concerning federal funding…

In January 2023, the U.S. Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) released a request for information on the "Department of Energy's Use of Demand-Side Support for Clean Energy Technologies" (OCED-RFI-23-1.) Below is a copy of OpenAir's response, authored by Brooklyn-based advocate Toby Bryce and submitted on March 1, that lays out a series of recommendations related to carbon dioxide removal as a component of the program. Summary: OpenAir proposes demand-side support and market shaping for long-duration carbon dioxide removal (CDR) via federal funding of pilot state-level public procurement programs along the lines of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act (CDRLA) policy framework...
By Christopher Neidl March 7, 2023

The Co2lector – A short story by Andrew…

Being a sunvalet was a lot like being a regular valet, Raf figured, just a hundred times harder. It wasn’t just that parking was an aggressively dwindling commodity these days; or that the microcons...
By Andrew Dana Hudson November 3, 2022

Concrete: Square one for scaling distributed direct air…

Concrete is a massive global industry that is projected to grow significantly in the coming decades to meet the demand of increased urbanization and infrastructure renewal. New technological solutions...
By OpenAir Team December 21, 2021

In the Short History of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide…

Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has been much in the news this month. In addition to two excellent OpenAir This Is CDR presentations from SeaChange and Planetary Hydrogen, important and compr...
By Toby Bryce December 19, 2021
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CDReality

CDReality: Is CDR just a smokescreen for Oil…

This is a frequent claim by opponents that while not necessarily wrong, should not keep us from doing what is necessary. What’s needed is a balanced approach. The fossil fuel industry, first and foremost, promotes CCS rather than CDR. While CDR is also on their radar screen, that doesn’t make CDR innately bad or dangerous. It just means that–as in many other parts of society–we need to create a policy framework to prevent abuse. The bottom line The solution of choice for the fossil fuel industry is CCS, where carbon dioxide is captured directly from the smokestack. This approach works in their favor because it gives them an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels and locks us even d...
By Tina Baumgartner January 14, 2023

CDReality: Our Basic CDR FAQ

Here is some foundational info in short form for anyone getting ready to engage with CDR skeptics, opponents & newbies. If you’ve wrapped your head around these basics, you are ready to start ta...
By Tina Baumgartner

CDReality: Should we focus first on Decarbonization, and…

Decarbonization, or preventing future emissions through conversion of to zero carbon alternatives, is critically important. But we will need CDR as well, so we need to develop it now. You will hear th...
By Tina Baumgartner

CDReality: Is CDR a ‘Moral Hazard’?

It is sometimes said that “CDR creates a Moral Hazard”. Maybe, but that is a reason to craft proper policy, not to dismiss CDR. Moral hazard is an economic concept that basically says that people ...
By Tina Baumgartner
Read More

News

Watch your language! (helpful hints on climate change…

This Scientific American article has some useful insights on what language about climate change may be more likely to engage and motivate people.  The Right Words Are Crucial to Solving Climate Change - Scientific American
By Peter Hoberg February 1, 2023

This Is CDR Episode 37: Carbin Minerals with…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onZUVpjKWVE This Is CDR is an ongoing series of online events to explore the range of carbon dioxide removal solutions that are currently in development. This week, ...
By Peter Malamud Smith June 14, 2022

This Is CDR Episode 36: Puro.earth’s Carbon Removal…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0QA-ihMxTY This Is CDR is an ongoing series of online events to explore the range of carbon dioxide removal solutions that are currently in development. This week, ...
By Peter Malamud Smith May 31, 2022

This Is CDR Episode 35: Dr. Gregory Nemet…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPPAGYXWImc This Is CDR is an ongoing series of online events to explore the range of carbon dioxide removal solutions that are currently in development. This week, ...
By Peter Malamud Smith May 30, 2022
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Collector of the Month

January Collector of the Month: Karl Danz

Karl, you have been a citizen advocate for climate action for over a decade. Tell us about your journey. I learned the science behind the "greenhouse effect" in college in the 1970s. Most of what my professors said was accurate, except for predicting that we would not see impacts until 2100.  Over the years I have engaged in various efforts, but until I discovered Citizens’ Climate Lobby in 2013 there was nothing that seemed like it could get the job done at the scale required. The mission statement reads: “Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a climate change organization that exists to create the political will for a livable world by enabling individual breakthroughs in the exercise of ...
By OpenAir Team January 1, 2023

September Collector of the Month: Christopher Donnelly

You first jumped into OpenAir during our Ireland policy advocacy campaign earlier this year, but quickly discovered our R&D work and began contributing to CYAN. As a UX designer, what drew you to ...
By Christopher Neidl September 6, 2022

August Collector of the Month: Janine Kong

So Janine, you jumped right into OpenAir just a few months ago but immediately hit the ground running.  You've taken on the role as curator and host of Know This! OpenAir's newest member-generated vi...
By Christopher Neidl August 2, 2022

July Collector of the Month: David Wilson

For over a year you have been a very active participant in OpenAir’s Cyan and Carbon Forming missions, focusing on the critical element of carbon removal measurement. Can you share a basic overview ...
By Christopher Neidl July 3, 2022