The Three Demons of CDR w/ Roger Aines

This week our guest is Roger Aines the Energy Program Chief Scientist in E Program at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Roger leads the Carbon Initiative at LLNL, which “aims to understand, develop, and implement technologies for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

Several months ago, Roger wrote about the “Three Demons of Carbon Removal” in a submission to the journal Chem about “Misconceptions and Myths Surrounding Carbon Removal.”

In that piece, he said that three big issues stand between us and our goal of reaching our climate goals-

-The Timing Demon- resources are required to stop emissions today but building a carbon removal industry will take decades and needs to begin now.

-The ‘Me-Too’ Demon- will the reality of carbon removal mean that emitting industries do not pursue decarbonization aggressively?

-The Demon of Injustice- carbon removal must demonstrate it can exist to benefit, not burden, communities who have previously been burdened by industry.

On today’s show, we’ll discuss these demons with Roger and how he sees them in the context of some recent news in the world of carbon removal. Also with us, as always, is our policy co-host Chris Barnard, Policy Director at the American Conservation Coalition.