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Betting on negative emissions

Nature Climate Change volume 4, pages 850–853 (2014)Cite this article

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, its credibility as a climate change mitigation option is unproven and its widespread deployment in climate stabilization scenarios might become a dangerous distraction.

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Figure 1: Carbon dioxide emission pathways until 2100 and the extent of net negative emissions and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in 2100.
Figure 2

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Acknowledgements

This work is a collaborative effort under the MaGNET (Managing Global Negative Emissions Technologies) initiative of the Global Carbon Project (www.globalcarbonproject.org), a joint project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change, the World Climate Research Programme and Diversitas. J.G.C. thanks the support of the Australian Climate Change Science Program. C.D.J. was supported by the Joint UK Department of Energy & Climate Change and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme (GA01101). G.P.P. and R.M.A thank the support of the Norwegian Research Council (236296). Y.Y. and A.S. acknowledge that GCP Tsukuba office activities are supported by Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies. F.K. acknowledges support from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Tropical Flagship Initiative. M.T. acknowledges the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea under the GEMINA project. C.L.Q. thanks the support of UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NE/103002X/1). R.B.J. acknowledges the US Department of Agriculture (AFRI #2012-00857).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Working Group Resources and International Trade, Torgauer Strasse 12–15, Berlin, 10829, Germany

    Sabine Fuss

  2. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, Laxenburg, 2361, Austria

    Sabine Fuss, Florian Kraxner & Nebosja Nakicenovic

  3. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, GPO Box 3023, Canberra, 2601, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Josep G. Canadell

  4. Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo (CICERO), Gaustadalléen 21, Oslo, 0349, Norway

    Glen P. Peters & Robbie M. Andrew

  5. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) and Politecnico di Milano, Corso Magenta, Milan, 63, Italy

    Massimo Tavoni

  6. Laboratorie des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Centre d'Etudes de Orme des Merisiers - BAT 709, 91191, Gif sur Yvette, France

    Philippe Ciais

  7. Stanford University, School of Earth Sciences, Woods Institute for the Environment, and Precourt Institute for Energy, 473 Vio Ortega, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Robert B. Jackson

  8. Met Office Hadley Centre, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UK

    Chris D. Jones

  9. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Corinne Le Quéré

  10. Climate Change Institute, Fenner School, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Michael R. Raupach

  11. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa 16-2, Tsukuba Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan

    Ayyoob Sharifi & Yoshiki Yamagata

  12. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, 23 St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK

    Pete Smith

Authors
  1. Sabine Fuss
  2. Josep G. Canadell
  3. Glen P. Peters
  4. Massimo Tavoni
  5. Robbie M. Andrew
  6. Philippe Ciais
  7. Robert B. Jackson
  8. Chris D. Jones
  9. Florian Kraxner
  10. Nebosja Nakicenovic
  11. Corinne Le Quéré
  12. Michael R. Raupach
  13. Ayyoob Sharifi
  14. Pete Smith
  15. Yoshiki Yamagata

Contributions

All authors contributed to the planning of the paper. S.F. led the work together with J.G.C. and prepared Fig. 2 including description of the framework benefiting from discussions with all authors. G.P.P., R.M.A. and M.T. prepared Fig. 1 and/or provided the associated analysis. All authors contributed to writing the Commentary, providing comments to the framework and input in terms of numbers and references backing the analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabine Fuss.

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Fuss, S., Canadell, J., Peters, G. et al. Betting on negative emissions. Nature Clim Change 4, 850–853 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2392

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