Carbon Removal Forum --- March 10, 2021 --- ONLINE

February 17, 2021

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The Carbon Removal Forum is a campus-wide event to harness knowledge and capacity toward developing an Iowa State University program in agriculturally based carbon removal.

Why should you attend?

The forum is intended to introduce ISU to the concepts of carbon reduction and removal from the atmosphere through agricultural activities. Follow-up discussions will ensue on how ISU can contribute to carbon reduction and removal to help curb climate change and inform participation in developing carbon markets. The desired outcome is proposals for research, education, and extension on agriculturally based carbon removal.

Who is invited?

Students, faculty, staff, and concerned citizens who would like to understand how agricultural practices and engineering technologies can help mitigate climate change through carbon removal from the atmosphere.

What’s next?

Following the Carbon Removal Forum, we plan to engage scientists, engineers, students, leaders, and other stakeholders across Iowa and the U.S. in regular virtual discussions starting April 7th, 2021. The goal of these discussions is to continue to move collaborative research forward, identifying research gaps in bringing new revenue streams to Iowa farms through carbon removal, and a statewide carbon removal assessment to help quantify the benefits of carbon removal to Iowa’s economy.

Featured speakers

[PHOTO] Robertson
G. Philip Robertson
University Distinguished Professor
Michigan State University

Title: ‘Agricultural climate solutions: Prospects for real mitigation’
Abstract: Negative carbon emissions are central to strategies for keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 °C by 2100, and land management options are among the most available and affordable. Some are more mature than others, some have been challenged as uncertain or overstated, and still, others are mutually exclusive. All will require incentives for farmers and others to participate. How much mitigation that various practices can be expected to deliver depends on balancing multiple environmental priorities and uncertainties, and a good starting place is a targeted discussion of the current state of knowledge for US agricultural lands.

[PHOTO] Dan Sanchez
Daniel L. Sanchez
Assistant Specialist
University of California-Berkeley

Title: ‘Opportunities for engineered carbon removal in the U.S.’

Abstract: Stringent climate change mitigation scenarios rely on large-scale drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which can be achieved through a range of engineered technologies. This will review emerging commercial engineered carbon removal technologies in the United States, and discuss the corporate, economic, and regulatory drivers driving their deployment. Amongst options, the conversion of biomass and storage of biogenic carbon in geologic reservoirs or long-lived products is a particularly promising candidate for near-term carbon drawdown. READ MORE