S4 #2 | CDR Policy Deep Dive - Part 1: From Kyoto to Carbon Removal
Welcome to the first in a Carbon Removal Show three-part policy miniseries! We’re diving into the bureaucratic spaghetti of CDR policy - what it is, why we need it, and why pretending it doesn’t exist is no longer an option. It’ll be fun – we promise.
In this episode:
📜 Policy 101: What do we mean when we talk about carbon removal policy? Tom, Emily and their guests unpack the layers - from global frameworks to national targets, and the many policies themselves that can (hopefully) keep this show on the road.
🏛️ A Brief History of Climate Governance: We rewind all the way to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, to understand the context in which CDR policy is emerging. Turns out, carbon removal has technically been part of the discussion for some time - but it took a while to step out of the LULUCF shadows and into the limelight.
🛠️ The Goals of CDR Policy: Whether it’s support for scaling the industry or regulation for doing it right, we explore the many roles that policy can play in ensuring CDR does what it’s supposed to. Who should pay for it? How can we avoid unintended consequences? And is it too late to bribe policymakers with Emily’s banana bread?
🌍 It’s All Connected: We learn that CDR doesn’t happen in a vacuum – and that means CDR policy can’t either. It's entangled with everything from energy to land use to ocean governance. And yes, ocean-based CDR is complicated when 40% of the sea has no nation.
🍖 The Bony Meat Pie Metaphor™: How do NDCs, interim targets and policies work together to meet(/meat?) our climate goals? It’s all very clever, but not especially appetising.
🧪 Avoiding Déjà Vu: We ask what we can learn from previous climate and environmental policies – so we don’t spend the next decade reinventing the wheel, crashing it into a forest, and accidentally calling it carbon neutral.
👥 Featuring:
Guest insights from
Sebastian Manhart (Carbonfuture)Eve Tamme (Climate Principles)Christoph Beuttler (Carbon Gap)Wil Burns (Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal)Robert Höglund (Milkywire)Bojana Bajzelj (BeZero)Christopher Neidl (OpenAir Collective)
Hosts Emily Swaddle and Tom PreviteProducer Ben Weaver-Hincks
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S4 #1 | Where are we in the CDR story and where are we going?
Welcome back to The Carbon Removal Show! We’re kicking off Season 4 with a view from the top - checking in on the state of the carbon removal industry here in the dizzying heights of 2025.
In this episode:
🌍 Where are we now? Durable CDR purchases hit 8 million tonnes in 2024 (a 78% bump from 2023), but 64% of that was Microsoft flexing. Deliveries? Still catching up – and most of it’s biochar.
📉 Caveats, ahoy: Sales are booming, but actual removals are still lagging. The buyer pool is basically a tech giant party.
🚨 Bubble watch: Are we living in a beautifully optimistic carbon bubble? Is it about to pop? Will Tom’s optimism hat survive the bubble bath? We explore industry hype vs. hard truths, including the risks of undelivered credits and startup casualties.
📊 The vibe check: Emily’s on an emotional rollercoaster. Tom is backing the CDR horse. Ben’s beard is greyer. Collectively, we’re cautiously hopeful.
🛠️ What needs to happen?: Scaling isn’t just tech - it’s finance, policy, public understanding, and clear comms. We need to get the message out of the bubble and into the next layer of the onion. (Just… not into Emily’s bubble bath. Please.)
🚗 A history lesson you didn’t know you needed: Did you know the best-selling car in 1897 was electric? We could’ve been 100 years ahead… but markets are messy.
👥 Featuring:
Guest insights from Robert Höglund and Sebastian ManhartHosts Emily Swaddle and Tom PreviteProducer Ben Weaver-Hincks
🔗 Links & Resources:
CDR.fyi – The go-to source for up-to-date data on carbon removal purchases, deliveries, and market trends.CDRjobs – A live job board dedicated to carbon removal opportunities."Public perception of carbon dioxide removal technologies in the United States and the United Kingdom" – Emily Cox, Elspeth Spence and Nick Pidgeon, Nature Climate Change, 2020This episode of Freakonomics Radio, all about the history of electric vehicles.
🎧 Featured Podcasts & Voices
Grounded: A Climate Startup Journey – Hosted by Tom Previte - a climate startup podcast for fans of this show.CDR Policy Scoop – Hosted by Sebastian Manhart & Eve Tamme - deep dives into CDR policy.Milkywire – Robert Höglund's organization supporting impactful climate and CDR initiatives.
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Exciting news from The Carbon Removal Show
The Carbon Removal Show team are dusting off our mics, and we have some exciting news!
The biggest of welcomes and ‘thank you’s to our coalition partners: BeZero, Carbon Engineering, Carbonfuture, Carbon Gap, CarbonX, Klarna, MASH Makes, Milkywire, the Negative Emissions Platform, Opna, Patch, Pinwheel, Planboo, ReCarber, Standard Gas Technologies and Supercritical; and to our individual supporters: Sebastian Manhart and Eve Tamme.
To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including how to support our mission, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com.
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Introducing... Grounded: A Climate Startup Journey
While you’re waiting for more episodes of The Carbon Removal Show, we wanted to introduce you to another project that our very own Tom Previte has been busy on…
Grounded: A Climate Startup Journey
This is the story of a startup that wants to remove carbon from the atmosphere and help reshape our relationship with the planet. Ideally without burning to the ground in the process.
It was a good few years back when Tom stumbled across biochar. That was during the first season of The Carbon Removal Show. And it turns out that this biochar stuff… it's not just an ancient technology but also a cutting-edge solution for today’s climate problems.
Grounded: A Climate Startup Journey captures the highs and lows of a green startup - from sharp learning curves to unlikely breakthroughs. Listen in as Tom digs deep into the realities and complexities of setting up a carbon removal project, and gets to grips with the science, the money, and everything it takes to build an environmentally (and financially) sustainable business.
Because if we’re going to save the planet, we’re going to need a lot more businesses like this one.
Search for ‘Grounded: A Climate Startup Journey’ in your favourite podcast player, or click here for all the links.
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S3 #5 | How can companies contribute to industry scale?: Gigaton thinking - with MASH Makes
What happens when an individual company bakes industry scale up into their business philosophy? In this episode, Jakob Andersen shares the “gigaton thinking” mindset that drives his company, MASH Makes, in their approach to business and biochar.
MASH Makes started as a project at the Technological University of Denmark focusing on technology that could convert various waste streams (mainly residue biomass) into different energy products. In short, MASH Makes use automated machines that are able to produce bio oil, hydrogen and electricity from agricultural waste, with the main byproduct of this process being biochar – a soil amendment that actively absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.
Big thanks to MASH Makes for supporting this episode.
To learn more about The Carbon Removal Show, including further reading and all our sources, head to thecarbonremovalshow.com.
And thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the show.
The Carbon Removal Show is the world's leading in-depth podcast on carbon removal.
We combine hours of research and interviews with the world’s leading experts to explore the latest developments in carbon removal technology and policy in an easy to digest and engaging podcast format.
Our narrative driven, story-focused episodes are enjoyed by both experts in the field and climate-curious individuals wanting to learn more about this increasingly widespread topic. The problem of carbon emissions is clear - the solution, however, is not. Our succinct, level-headed and impartial approach to carbon removal gives our listeners the facts and the tools they need to make sense of, and take action on, how we as humanity can sustainably remove carbon from the atmosphere.
To find out more, head to https://thecarbonremovalshow.com/
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