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Our objectives
CO2RE developed rigorous approaches to ensure that GGR techniques are able to develop rapidly, effectively and responsibly, alongside action to reduce emissions. Our four research themes were informed by three overarching objectives: supportive policies, scalable technologies and enhanced capacity. We identified six societal needs that must be met in order for these objectives to be achieved. Find out more below.
The three CO2RE objectives
Supportive policies
Provide a portfolio of robust, implementable and equitable options for policy and governance, supporting bankable business models for sustainable GGR deployment to help achieve UK net-zero emissions by 2050.
Scalable technologies
Develop a coherent evaluation framework for the Demonstrators and other GGRs, covering lifecycle assessment, economic costs, environmental impact, governance and social perceptions. Accelerate development of promising, globally scalable options by linking to InnovateUK and other support and sift out ineffective ones.
Enhanced capacity
Build a GGR research & innovation community by linking initiatives within the Programme and with other national and international programmes. Leverage additional funding to deliver legacy activities. Develop transparent and robust decision-support processes for key stakeholders and champions to shape and use GGR to achieve net zero.
The six societal needs for GGR
We identified six broad societal needs to meet the three objectives above and achieve GGR at scale by 2050, involving transformations across political, social, technological and economic systems. Our research at CO2RE was designed to ensure that the following societal needs are met and maps directly onto them:
1.
A clear vision for GGR. GGR is an emerging sector that will need to be integrated with, and additional to, broader initiatives to stop climate change.
2.
Public support for GGR, as it will have big implications for communities and the environment. People need to be given a say in decisions which affect them, and GGR should be done in a fair way and brings other benefits.
3.
Innovation, because many approaches are at an early stage of development and are expensive. Government support and effective policies can stimulate innovation and bring costs down.
4.
Long-term, government-backed incentives for GGR are crucial to support the fledgling market.
5.
Strong and robust monitoring, verification and reporting to track the deployment and effectiveness of GGR.
6.
Tools for businesses, policymakers and others to make better decisions on GGR as it scales up.
Our achievements
As a programme, we worked to achieve our three objectives of supportive policies, scalable technologies and enhanced capacity in various ways.
Supportive policies
The CO2RE Hub contributed numerous responses to government calls for evidence and formal reviews, and our research was cited in multiple policy documents (see examples below). Since the programme began, The UK has put in place an adapted Contracts for Difference (CfD) model to subsidise bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), and has announced its intention to integrate them into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. Read more about our policy and stakeholder engagement.
Examples of our impact
Key resources on supportive policies
- Greenhouse Gas Removals Regulatory Review: Mapping a Novel Legal Landscape by Stakeholder Interviewing – the first comprehensive review of diverse bodies of law in the UK law applicable to particular GGRs or parts of GGR value chains.
- A Taxonomy of policies to support geological carbon dioxide removal evaluates policy combinations and interactions, with a particular focus on containing government expenditure and ensuring that policy combinations support technology development at different technology readiness levels.
- Towards responsible innovation and societal engagement with carbon dioxide removal draws on evidence from CO2RE research to examine how carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can be better understood, communicated, appraised and governed in the UK.
- Unlocking Private Investment for Greenhouse Gas Removal: Public-private collaboration and a technology-specific policy approach assesses and outlines public-private collaborations (PPCs) as an important intervention to unlock private-sector investment as part of a wider GGR policy ecosystem.
Scalable technologies
- Early engagement with Demonstrators, academics, policymakers and other stakeholders helped shape the programme of research, most notably informing the development of the GGR Evaluation Framework.
- Three Pathfinder funding calls were launched, with 13 projects funded. These were designed specifically to support proof-of-concept ideas for novel GGR approaches not covered by the Demonstrators. From the Pathfinder projects to date, seven proof-of-concepts have resulted in an additional £180k new funding; four patents are lodged or awarded; and over 30 papers have been published.
- Two Pathfinder funding recipients were awarded Bezos Earth Fund prizes. They are among 13 projects to have won $50,000 from the Fund, out of more than 700 originally submitted.
- 14+ startups have been supported with Innovate UK funding through the Undaunted programme. The portfolio spans direct air capture, carbon capture and utilisation, biochar, mineralisation, novel materials, N₂O removal and multiple marine GGR approaches.
Enhanced capacity
- The Future Leaders Network (created by the Hub to unite early-career GGR professionals across academia, public and private sectors) has grown to over 200 members and has developed a transition plan to continue operating under the umbrella of the Coalition for Negative Emissions (CNE).
- The Grounded podcast, which tells the story of the Restord biochar start-up, won Gold in the Sustainability and Environment category at the 2024 Signal Awards. The podcast was funded by the FLN microfinance initiative.
- The CO2RE Hub hosted the 3rd International Conference on Negative CO2 Emissions in June 2024, bringing together a global cohort of experts from academia, industry, and policy to share the latest knowledge on negative emissions technologies and practices (NETPs).
- The Hub organised two major public engagement events: Goodbye Greenhouse Gas! in Oxford in June 2024, and Reclaiming Hope, Removing Carbon in Bristol in June 2026. GGR-D programme researchers also participated in the NERC Explore our planet showcase event in Cardiff in October 2024.
- CO2RE has been instrumental in integrating Demonstrator methods into UK TIMES, the energy systems model used by the government to analyse national net zero pathways.
- Dr Steve Smith and his team of international co-authors on the State of Carbon Dioxide Removal Report secured additional funding for further editions of the report, with a 3rd edition published in 2026.