Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs

Tao Dai; Nathan C. Ellebracht; Elwin Hunter-Sellars; Alvina Aui; Hannah M. Goldstein; Wenqin Li; Chad M. Hellwinckel; Lydia Price; Andrew A. Wong; Peter Nico; Bruno Basso; G. Philip Robertson; Jennifer Pett-Ridge; Matthew Langholtz; Sarah E. Baker; Simon H. Pang; Corinne D. Scown

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349

Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs

Tao Dai
, Nathan C. Ellebracht
, Elwin Hunter-Sellars
, Alvina Aui
, Hannah M. Goldstein
, Wenqin Li
, Chad M. Hellwinckel
, Lydia Price
, Andrew A. Wong
, Peter Nico
, Bruno Basso
, G. Philip Robertson
, Jennifer Pett-Ridge
, Matthew Langholtz
, Sarah E. Baker
, Simon H. Pang
, Corinne D. Scown

Bioresource Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Gigatonne-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR), alongside deep emission cuts, is critical to stabilizing the climate. However, some of the most scalable CDR technologies are also the most land intensive. Here, we examine whether adequate land resources exist in the contiguous United States to meet CDR targets when prioritizing grid emissions reduction, food production, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. We focus on biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS) and show that suitable lands exceed the expected needs: 37.6 million hectares of land are available for BiCRS, resulting in 0.26 GtCO₂ of CDR/year, and 34 million hectares are suitable for wind- and solar-powered DACS, resulting in 4.8 GtCO₂ of CDR/year if facilities are co-located with geologic CO₂ storage. We identify biomass and energy supply hotspots to meet CDR targets while ensuring land protection and minimizing land competition.

Original language	English
Article number	101349
Journal	One Earth
Volume	8
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349
State	Published - Jul 18 2025

Funding

We thank Roger Aines for early feedback on this work. Funding for this research was provided by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and the Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) in FY23 and FY24. Additional research funds were contributed by the ClimateWorks Foundation. This work was conducted at the following US DOE national laboratories: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (contract DE-AC52-07NA27344), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (contract DE-AC02-05CH11231), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (contract DE-AC05-00OR22725). This work was enabled in part by the Joint BioEnergy Institute (https://www.jbei.org), the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation through contract DE-AC02-05CH11231, award no. DE-SC0018409, and award no. DE-SC0018420, respectively. LLNL release no.: LLNL-JRNL-2006390. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US government.

Keywords

BiCRS
DACS
bioenergy and carbon removal
biomass
carbon dioxide removal
direct air capture
land use
negative carbon emission
solar energy
switchgrass
wind energy

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10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349

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Dai, T., Ellebracht, N. C., Hunter-Sellars, E., Aui, A., Goldstein, H. M., Li, W., Hellwinckel, C. M., Price, L., Wong, A. A., Nico, P., Basso, B., Robertson, G. P., Pett-Ridge, J., Langholtz, M., Baker, S. E., Pang, S. H., & Scown, C. D. (2025). Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs. One Earth, 8(7), Article 101349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349

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title = "Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs",

abstract = "Gigatonne-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR), alongside deep emission cuts, is critical to stabilizing the climate. However, some of the most scalable CDR technologies are also the most land intensive. Here, we examine whether adequate land resources exist in the contiguous United States to meet CDR targets when prioritizing grid emissions reduction, food production, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. We focus on biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS) and show that suitable lands exceed the expected needs: 37.6 million hectares of land are available for BiCRS, resulting in 0.26 GtCO2 of CDR/year, and 34 million hectares are suitable for wind- and solar-powered DACS, resulting in 4.8 GtCO2 of CDR/year if facilities are co-located with geologic CO2 storage. We identify biomass and energy supply hotspots to meet CDR targets while ensuring land protection and minimizing land competition.",

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author = "Tao Dai and Ellebracht, \{Nathan C.\} and Elwin Hunter-Sellars and Alvina Aui and Goldstein, \{Hannah M.\} and Wenqin Li and Hellwinckel, \{Chad M.\} and Lydia Price and Wong, \{Andrew A.\} and Peter Nico and Bruno Basso and Robertson, \{G. Philip\} and Jennifer Pett-Ridge and Matthew Langholtz and Baker, \{Sarah E.\} and Pang, \{Simon H.\} and Scown, \{Corinne D.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s), Oak Ridge National Laboratory",

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Dai, T, Ellebracht, NC, Hunter-Sellars, E, Aui, A, Goldstein, HM, Li, W, Hellwinckel, CM, Price, L, Wong, AA, Nico, P, Basso, B, Robertson, GP, Pett-Ridge, J, Langholtz, M, Baker, SE, Pang, SH & Scown, CD 2025, 'Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs', One Earth, vol. 8, no. 7, 101349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349

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T1 - Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs

AU - Dai, Tao

AU - Ellebracht, Nathan C.

AU - Hunter-Sellars, Elwin

AU - Aui, Alvina

AU - Goldstein, Hannah M.

AU - Li, Wenqin

AU - Hellwinckel, Chad M.

AU - Price, Lydia

AU - Wong, Andrew A.

AU - Nico, Peter

AU - Basso, Bruno

AU - Robertson, G. Philip

AU - Pett-Ridge, Jennifer

AU - Langholtz, Matthew

AU - Baker, Sarah E.

AU - Pang, Simon H.

AU - Scown, Corinne D.

PY - 2025/7/18

Y1 - 2025/7/18

N2 - Gigatonne-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR), alongside deep emission cuts, is critical to stabilizing the climate. However, some of the most scalable CDR technologies are also the most land intensive. Here, we examine whether adequate land resources exist in the contiguous United States to meet CDR targets when prioritizing grid emissions reduction, food production, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. We focus on biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS) and show that suitable lands exceed the expected needs: 37.6 million hectares of land are available for BiCRS, resulting in 0.26 GtCO2 of CDR/year, and 34 million hectares are suitable for wind- and solar-powered DACS, resulting in 4.8 GtCO2 of CDR/year if facilities are co-located with geologic CO2 storage. We identify biomass and energy supply hotspots to meet CDR targets while ensuring land protection and minimizing land competition.

AB - Gigatonne-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR), alongside deep emission cuts, is critical to stabilizing the climate. However, some of the most scalable CDR technologies are also the most land intensive. Here, we examine whether adequate land resources exist in the contiguous United States to meet CDR targets when prioritizing grid emissions reduction, food production, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. We focus on biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS) and show that suitable lands exceed the expected needs: 37.6 million hectares of land are available for BiCRS, resulting in 0.26 GtCO2 of CDR/year, and 34 million hectares are suitable for wind- and solar-powered DACS, resulting in 4.8 GtCO2 of CDR/year if facilities are co-located with geologic CO2 storage. We identify biomass and energy supply hotspots to meet CDR targets while ensuring land protection and minimizing land competition.

KW - BiCRS

KW - DACS

KW - bioenergy and carbon removal

KW - biomass

KW - carbon dioxide removal

KW - direct air capture

KW - land use

KW - negative carbon emission

KW - solar energy

KW - switchgrass

KW - wind energy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105009038834

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DO - 10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101349

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105009038834

SN - 2590-3330

VL - 8

JO - One Earth

JF - One Earth

IS - 7

M1 - 101349

ER -

Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs

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