“Carbon Removal,” a book by MITEI Senior Research Engineer Howard Herzog and Professor Niall Mac Dowell of Imperial College London, explores the history and intricacies of removing carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere.

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MIT researchers Howard Herzog and Niall Mac Dowell published a book examining carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies that extract CO₂ already in the atmosphere. The book covers both engineered systems like direct air capture and nature-based approaches such as tree planting, evaluating each method across five key metrics: accounting accuracy, permanence of storage, cost-effectiveness, additionality, and permitting challenges. While no single approach excels across all criteria, the authors argue CDR can supplement emissions reduction efforts in addressing climate change, though significant challenges remain for large-scale deployment.

Book reviews technologies aiming to remove carbon from the atmosphere