Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center

2007-08 Seminars

The Role of Carbon Dioxide Capture from Ambient Air for Achieving Ambitious Climate Protection Targets

Dr. Elmar Kriegler
Visiting Researcher
EPP and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Abstract
CO2 capture from ambient air acts directly on the atmospheric CO2 concentration, and thus provides increased leverage to control the carbon cycle. We ask the question whether and to what extent CO2 air capture would be utilized for achieving ambitious temperature and concentration targets in an interactive climate-economy system, if it becomes available in addition to conventional mitigation options: increasing energy efficiency, substitution of fossil fuels, and carbon capturing and storage at point sources. The analysis is conducted with the coupled climate-economy-energy model MIND1.2 that allows the calculation of cost-effective mitigation policies under climate constraints. The model was upgraded with a stylized CO2 air capture module based on the work of Josh Stolaroff and David Keith (J. K. Stolaroff, Capturing CO2 from ambient air: A feasibility assessment, PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University). We use the upgraded model to explore the cost-effective use of CO2 air capture vs. conventional mitigation options for various climate sensitivities and socio-economic parameters.