Carbon Removal and Carbon Avoidance

Currently, many countries are working towards transitioning into cleaner energy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations to be met by 2050. Moving to cleaner energy resources, enforcing carbon taxes, and cap and trade programs are all examples of carbon avoidance. Carbon removal is used to describe something that removes the carbon already existing in the atmosphere. While most countries are making decisions that would support carbon avoidance, many scientists claim it will take more than making the transition to clean energy and that something needs to be done about the carbon in the air currently. This project will look towards researching the two methods and working to inform people about carbon removal since many people do not even know what this term means, let alone have heard of it before. To this end, I interviewed one of the lead scientists and engineers on the Mechanical Tree, ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions prototype that will hopefully champion the carbon removal movement. I created podcasts, conducted student surveys, and made an informative video on this subject to raise more awareness of the difference between carbon removal and carbon avoidance. I also researched carbon avoidance to see for myself whether or not carbon removal is necessary. I concluded by the end of this project that carbon removal and carbon avoidance are both necessary components in order to reach net zero by the mid century.