{"688806":{"#nid":"688806","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Effective Carbon Removal Requires Transparency, Says New Georgia Tech Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECarbon dioxide continues to push global temperatures toward dangerous thresholds that affect everything from public health to economies. To mitigate these effects, researchers are looking into carbon removal methods such as direct air capture machines that can chemically bind with carbon or simple ecological strategies like adding trees to unwooded areas. These approaches could potentially supplement the decarbonization of transport, industry, and the energy system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut as carbon removal grows, so does a core problem: The carbon removal industry is largely unregulated, particularly for more novel technologies without long-standing norms around reporting and verification. In today\u2019s \u201cvoluntary carbon market,\u201d a private company can claim it removed a certain amount of carbon, list that amount for sale, and allow another company to buy it to offset its emissions \u2014 with little independent oversight or transparency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new \u003Cem\u003ENature NPJ Climate Action\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44168-025-00324-4#additional-information\u0022\u003Earticle\u003C\/a\u003E argues that this system isn\u2019t enough to meet global climate goals, and could even end up causing harm. In the paper, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/chris-reinhard\u0022\u003EChris Reinhard\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;Georgia Power Chair and associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, and Noah Planavsky of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture call for a fundamental shift: Carbon removal should be quantifiable, economically viable, and pursued in ways that create benefits for local communities \u2014 and greater transparency in carbon removal practice is necessary.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe argue that it\u2019s important to understand and quantify carbon removal practices that can benefit local communities, like better crop yields, and that this understanding is really only possible if these practices are pursued transparently,\u201d Reinhard said. \u201cThe data used to quantify carbon removal and how much it costs need to be transparent \u2014 the surest route toward learning what works and building public trust in carbon removal as a solution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETransparency Trouble\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReinhard and Planavsky bring a unique technical and policy perspective to the issue. As geochemists, they study how Earth\u2019s chemical composition and geological processes control the carbon cycle. Reinhard also co-founded a carbon removal startup he has since divested from. That insider experience and academic background helped them see the disconnect between what\u2019s technologically possible and what market logic culturally or commercially incentivizes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday\u2019s carbon removal startups often guard their methods and data as proprietary intellectual property. Without regulatory requirements or pressure from corporate carbon buyers, these startups have little reason to disclose carbon accounting practices, cost structures, or actual long-term impacts. The researchers argue that policy guidance and advocacy are needed to shift the industry toward meaningful openness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur expertise is most firmly grounded in the technical dimensions of these carbon removal processes,\u201d Reinhard said, \u201cbut we saw an opportunity here to push for better policy and start this dialogue about what transparency really means, in part to foster more public debate about what carbon removal ought to be doing for society.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommunity Beyond Carbon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe authors also stress that carbon removal should deliver benefits beyond atmospheric cleanup that communities can see and advocate for. For example, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/farming-future-planet-how-liming-could-be-key-carbon-removal\u0022\u003Eliming\u003C\/a\u003E, or adding limestone to soil, can remove carbon while also improving crop yields and reducing erosion. Coastal ecosystem\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/feature\/fixing-flooding\u0022\u003Erestoration\u003C\/a\u003E can\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/mitigating-climate-change-through-restoration-coastal-ecosystems\u0022\u003Esequester carbon\u003C\/a\u003E while strengthening shorelines and supporting fisheries. Georgia Tech\u2019s own\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/feature\/direct-air-capture\u0022\u003Edirect air capture work\u003C\/a\u003E builds community engagement into the process to ensure that carbon removal is equitable.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReinhard and Planavsky say the next best step for the carbon removal industry is to identify which removal pathways offer the clearest benefits, what they cost, and where transparency gaps are most damaging. This foundation will help create policies that make carbon removal reliable, verifiable, and community-centered.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWithout oversight, they argue, carbon removal risks remaining a niche, market-defined practice \u2014 when the climate challenge demands a trusted, scalable, and democratically governed solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Reinhard, C.T., Planavsky, N.J. The importance of radical transparency for responsible carbon dioxide removal. \u003Cem\u003Enpj Clim. Action\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003E5\u003C\/strong\u003E, 7 (2026). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s44168-025-00324-4\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe researchers suggest that carbon removal can have clear benefits on the road to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it needs more oversight to be responsibly adopted at large scales.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The researchers suggest that carbon removal can have clear benefits on the road to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it needs more oversight to be responsibly adopted at large scales."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2026-03-09 13:52:38","changed_gmt":"2026-03-20 13:01:54","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-03-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-03-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679553":{"id":"679553","type":"image","title":"Smole Stack from Adobe","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAdobeStock_480044761\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1773075283","gmt_created":"2026-03-09 16:54:43","changed":"1773075368","gmt_changed":"2026-03-09 16:56:08","alt":"Smoke stack billowing smke","file":{"fid":"263728","name":"smoke-stack-adobeimage.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/09\/smoke-stack-adobeimage.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/09\/smoke-stack-adobeimage.png","mime":"image\/png","size":726512,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/03\/09\/smoke-stack-adobeimage.png?itok=gzc0xV-8"}}},"media_ids":["679553"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tess.malone@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETess Malone\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESenior Research Writer\/Editor\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}