Last week, we launched the Carbon Quantification, Integration and Policy (C-QuIP) Database at Carbon Unbound. The C-QuIP Database leverages our previous generation of web tools to make the connections between these areas of carbon removal more clear. In this blog, we discuss our motivations for building C-QuIP and explore the kinds of questions the database is well positioned to help researchers answer.
Let’s begin with an important ground truth: scaling carbon removal will not be a monolithic process. Instead, different CDR technologies, policy tools, and measurement techniques will all be needed to achieve gigaton-scale removal rates by mid-century. This diversity is a huge strength. With it, we have more opportunities to make a meaningful climate impact. But it can also make it harder to see the connected projects, policies, and research that turn a CDR opportunity into a reality.
Here are a few questions (and their answers) that illustrate this complexity.
What kinds of policies support carbon removal across the globe?
Our data shows that the answer ranges from municipal agricultural trucking rebates to federal tax credits. Some policies support specific CDR techniques, while others provide guidance that applies across the board.
Which sectors of the economy could host CDR solutions in their existing infrastructure?
We’ve consolidated opportunities to implement CDR in dozens of industries, ranging from wastewood management to whiskey distillation.
How many protocols, methodologies, standards, and other quantification resources exist for each CDR pathway?
A lot! In C-QuIP, we can search for resources by pathway. For example, we are aware of 69 source documents related to mineral carbonation.
Is anyone working on embedding these mineral carbonation solutions into existing industries? What kind of policies and standards support that work?
Using C-QuIP, we can ask this question for any CDR pathway. For mineral carbonation, we find six policies and 10 integrated CDR projects in this space.
Many kinds of actors need to navigate the complex carbon removal landscape. Policymakers, project funders, CDR companies, and stakeholders from industries looking to implement carbon removal are all positioned to ask some flavor of the questions above. Yet at present, there is no consolidated repository to find the answers. We created C-QuIP to meet this need. The database combines our previous CDR quantification, sectoral integration, and policy tools into a consolidated interface. What makes C-QuIP unique is its focus on the connections between these core areas.
Our work as an organization lives in these nexuses. We find opportunities to integrate CDR into different sectors of society, match them with the right enabling policies, and ensure that carbon removals are measured using fit-for-purpose, transparent methods. By documenting examples of these connections, we hope to enable the carbon removal community to identify future opportunities for carbon removal integration, policy, and quantification.
With that future-focused aim in mind, we want C-QuIP to be as helpful as possible. If there are data or capabilities to add to C-QuIP, please let us know at database@carbonremovalstandards.org.
