Why logistics systems can play a role in accelerating the development of the CDR sector

This post originally appeared on Kuehne Climate Center’s LinkedIn blog.

Author: Ingrid Schulte, CDR Lead at Kuehne Climate Center

CDR is not just a technical problem, but a material one

The science is clear: To meet global climate targets we will need rapid decarbonization and we will need to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it durably. While we must prioritize reducing emissions at the source, additional carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere is increasingly unavoidable to mitigate temperature overshoot, to counterbalance residual emissions, and to remove historical emissions after achieving net-zero to reach net-negative.

CDR methods are in different states of readiness. Conventional land-based methods like afforestation, reforestation, and soil carbon sequestration are relatively mature but may be limited by land use and permanence. Novel CDR methods like biochar and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) are promising, but sometimes face cost and infrastructure hurdles. Direct air capture (DAC) is in early deployment but remains expensive and energy-intensive. Enhanced weathering and many ocean-based methods are also still nascent, with uncertainties around scalability and environmental impact.

Current CDR efforts remove only a fraction of what is needed. Approximately 2 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO₂ per year are removed globally— over 99.9% through conventional land-based methods —while novel CDR methods contribute only about 0.002 Gt CO₂ per year, or less than 0.1% of the total [1]. This is far from the billions of tons of CO₂ that we will need to remove annually by 2050 to stay within the 1.5°C, and even 2°C, thresholds [2]. A quick look at some of the numbers behind building a CDR sector that can deliver these removals makes the challenge ahead even more evident. To sequester 1 Gt of CO₂ per year:

Depending on rock types, 1-3 Gt of rock/mineral feedstock will be needed for enhanced weathering [3]

1-2 Gt of “oven dry” biomass will be needed for BECCS, equivalent to 40-80 million truck loads assuming 25-tonne payload [4]

Wood as a building material to permanently store carbon—0.54 Gt of wood will be required to store 1 Gt of CO₂, equivalent to 13,500 ship voyages assuming 40,000 tons deadweight [5]

May require between 400,000 and 1,800,000 workers globally in areas including construction, operations, engineering, finance, legal support [6] These numbers show that scaling carbon removal could be constrained not just by cost, technology readiness, or energy use — but by something often overlooked: how well we coordinate and move materials, data, and carbon.

Why logistics systems are a part of the CDR solution

Logistics systems are the processes, resources, and technologies used to efficiently move, store, and manage goods, services, or information. In the CDR context, these systems can include physical infrastructure (like pipelines, trucks, and ports), supply chains (for minerals, chemicals, or biomass), and institutional factors (like permitting, monitoring, and verification). Logistics systems can also facilitate the flow of carbon from where it is captured or processed to where it is transported, stored, or utilized.

While logistics are often framed as a bottleneck, they can also be a powerful catalyst for climate action, including CDR. For example, there is opportunity to leverage infrastructure and parallel developments from across other sectors. Many of the logistics systems needed for CDR, such as road networks, ports, agricultural supply chains, and industrial shipping routes, already exist at scale. Advancements like the electrification of heavy-duty trucks, automation in bulk handling, and digital logistics platforms offer opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity and cost of material flows. By integrating CDR into these evolving systems — rather than building everything from scratch — we can accelerate deployment, lower emissions associated with transport, and unlock new efficiencies across the CDR value chain.

So how do we ensure that logistics systems are a part of the CDR solution? We need to move away from the mindset that logistics will sort themselves out as the sector scales. It starts with designing CDR supply chains with efficiency, scalability, and sustainability in mind. This means developing logistics networks that minimize emissions, use low-carbon transport modes, and optimize storage and processing of needed materials and captured carbon. Crucially, we need a clear understanding of which inputs (e.g., feedstocks) are needed in which areas for different CDR methods in order to make informed, strategic logistics decisions. Integrating digital tools for tracking, verification, and coordination is also key, especially as CDR scales across regions and technologies. Policymakers, industry, and researchers must work together to embed logistics planning into CDR project design from the outset—not as an afterthought.

Without well-designed sustainable logistics systems, even the most promising CDR methods will struggle to achieve meaningful, scalable climate impact. At KCC, we see this as part of a bigger picture: Logistics and climate action are two sides of the same coin. Logistics for climate action can accelerate solutions like CDR, while climate action for logistics ensures the systems that move our world are sustainable and low- carbon. Both are essential if we want to make logistics “part of the solution” and accelerate the global climate transition.

References

1. Smith, S., Geden, O., Gidden, M., Lamb, W. F., Nemet, G., Minx, J. C., Cowie, A., Bellamy, R., Greene, J., Schulte, I., Lück, S., Gasser, T., … Schenuit, F. (2024). The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal – 2nd Edition. State of Carbon Dioxide Removal. CC BY 4.0.

2. IPCC (2022). Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Working Group III Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report.

3. KCC estimation based numbers from Deng, H., Sonnenthal, E., Arora, B., Breunig, H., Brodie, E., Kleber, M., … & Nico, P. (2023). The environmental controls on efficiency of enhanced rock weathering in soils. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 9765.

4. KCC estimation based on numbers from Sandalow, D., Aines, R., Friedmann, J., McCormick, C., & Sanchez, D. L. (2021). Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiRCS) roadmap (No. LLNL-TR-815200). Lawrence Livermore National Lab.(LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States).

5. KCC estimation based on numbers from IPCC (2022) and IPCC (2006). 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories: Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use.

6. RMI (2024). What We Really Mean by “The Massive Scale” Required for CDR in Climate Goals.