We need knowledge and technology to later remove CO2 on a large scale.
Netherlands Scientific Climate Council
Mini lecture on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)
In this video my colleagues and I tell you more...
about what Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is...
what role it plays in climate policy, what risks there are...
and about what the government can do to make it possible.
The faster the greenhouse gas emission is reduced, the better.
We have a climate policy in place...
to prevent new emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
But the pace of the emission reduction is too slow.
There will always remain some emission...
and we've lived beyond our means for too long.
Therefore, we also need to remove CO2.
But how does that work exactly? We'll explain it in this mini lecture.
VOICE-OVER: What is Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)?
More CO2 in the atmosphere keeps heat from escaping the Earth.
If you extract that CO2 from the atmosphere...
you prevent further global warming.
You can do that in several ways, for instance, by planting new forests...
or build with wood.
Or you could apply smart agricultural techniques...
such as less ploughing to keep the carbon in the soil.
But these are all temporary ways of CDR.
In the long run, the CO2 could escape again.
The Scientific Climate Council recommends...
to focus on permanent ways of CDR.
Examples are directly filtering the CO2 from the atmosphere...
and storing it in empty gas fields, beneath the North Sea bed for instance.
Or capturing the CO2 in factories that use biomass...
and again storing the CO2 deep in the ground.
VO: Why should we start now with CDR?
We need knowledge and technology to later remove CO2 on a large scale.
Therefore, we should start now with various ways of CDR.
VO: What are the risks of CDR?
That we won't be able to realise our ambitions for large-scale CDR...
for instance, because we fail to reach the expected technological innovations...
or because the cost of large-scale CDR remain too high...
or because the CO2 removed earlier escapes too soon.
Therefore, the Scientific Climate Council recommends...
to focus on reduction of greenhouse gas emission.
That way, we're less dependent on CDR.
VO: What role should the Dutch government play in CDR?
Heleen explained to us why CDR is important to us all.
Currently these technologies are not yet available on a large scale.
We should work on that.
The government should play a role here...
because currently this cannot be realised by one party alone.
This means the government should in the first place consider...
where CDR fits in the climate policy.
Secondly, it should consider which methods...
are stimulated by which instruments.
The Scientific Climate Council gives three recommendations for that.
First of all, the government should focus on permanent CDR.
This will benefit our society most.
Secondly, the demand for these methods should be stimulated and upscaled.
The government can do this through an active purchase programme.
Lastly, the government should make sure it can guarantee Dutch society...
that this CO2 has actually been removed.
It could do this, for instance, through a certification system.
VO: Thank you for watching our mini lecture on CDR.
The Scientific Climate Council has been formed...
to give the Dutch government advice on climate policy.
We do so from various scientific angles and for the short and the long term.
To learn more, go to our website: english.wkr.nl.