Restore the Delta is actively evaluating carbon management projects in the California Delta region for environmental protections and community benefits. We are partnering with local, regional, state, and federal government, community-based organizations, and business leaders to chart an economic future for the Delta region that prioritizes energy justice, sustainable agriculture solutions, and community wealth generation.
We define Carbon Management as two distinct types of waste management approaches to address climate change – Mitigative Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Mitigative CCS is a tool used to reduce CO2 emissions from stationary pollution sources by capturing CO2 and transporting it to geologic storage. CCS should only be used to capture hard-to-abate emissions, such as manufacturing with high industrial process heat needs (e.g. glass, steel) and emissions that are inherent to the production process (e.g. heating limestone to make cement). Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is a waste management tool spanning a wide range of nature-based and engineered solutions to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere. For CDR to be effective, we need to set clear and specific limits for the emissions that carbon removals are expected to compensate for; otherwise we risk failing to meet climate objectives and perpetuating irreversible harm to sensitive ecosystems and vulnerable communities. We are evaluating several CDR opportunities in the Delta region, including Soil Carbon Sequestration; Afforestation and Reforestation; Coastal Blue Carbon; Enhanced Mineralization; Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage; and Direct Air Capture.
Critically, CCS and CDR don’t work if we fail to transition to clean energy and more sustainable agriculture practices. This is especially true for urban and rural Delta communities living with energy insecurity, pollution, extreme climate threats, and poor housing conditions. The need for carbon management emerged from a global failure of western civilizations to stop burning fossil fuels. Accordingly, the goal of carbon management is one of global proportions — annually removing billions of tons of atmospheric CO2 by midcentury to limit catastrophic planetary warming (with the enormous caveat that we successfully decarbonize the world economy along the way). In other words, even after we’ve transformed our urban landscapes and transit systems to reduce energy and water use and lowered the carbon footprint of major emitting sectors (e.g. power, transportation, agriculture, aviation, and heavy industry), atmospheric CO2 concentrations from residual and legacy emissions will still threaten climate stability and life as we know it. We accept this premise, and recognize the urgent need to invest in new technology solutions to reverse the cascading consequences of fossil fuel emissions, on the condition that regional carbon management coalitions are accountable to also accelerating non-CCS decarbonization efforts in host communities.
Our work:
• Collaborative research with Lawrence Livermore National Lab and other NGOs to model and analyze potential worst-case carbon leakage scenarios in the Delta.
• Building consensus on monitoring, reporting, and verification standards for carbon dioxide removal pathways with national labs, projects, buyers, standard setters, policy makers, communities, and scientists.
• Monitoring active applications for US EPA Class VI CO2 Injection Well permits and proposals for engineered carbon capture projects in the Delta.
• Inviting collaboration to continue developing our priorities for responsible carbon management in the Delta.
For more information, contact Davis Harper at davis@restorethedelta.org.