State CDR Atlas

More about the State CDR Atlas

It is widely established by the best available science that carbon dioxide removal (CDR), alongside rapid and deep decarbonization, is necessary to meet our climate targets. In addition to climate goals, CDR can provide economic opportunities and other co-benefits.

In the United States, federal policy has started to establish support and guardrails for enabling a safe and supported CDR industry; states also play a critical role. States hold regulatory authority needed to enable safe CDR deployment, can develop place-based strategies that play to their strengths, and are well-positioned to support deployment that is supported by and beneficial to local communities. To help state-level stakeholders start to explore this opportunity, RMI has developed the State CDR Atlas (“The Atlas”).

The Atlas is a screening tool that compiles data from over 80 metrics, to give users insights into the policy and regulatory environment that can support CDR and the opportunity states have across 8 CDR Approach Categories based on each state’s infrastructure, natural resources, and workforce. The Atlas provides a starting point for users to explore which states could be well suited for CDR projects and how to bridge policy gaps to enable projects.

You can explore the tool below and scroll down below the tool for more detail on how to use The Atlas.

The State CDR Atlas tool is best viewed on a desktop device.

The State CDR Atlas tool is best viewed on a desktop device.

The State CDR Atlas tool is best viewed on a desktop device.

The State CDR Atlas tool is best viewed on a desktop device.

The scope and use cases for the State CDR Atlas

The State CDR Atlas covers all 50 US states and 8 distinct CDR Approach Categories. At a high level, the Atlas provides two ratings of high, medium, or low to all 8 CDR Approach Categories for each of the 50 states. The Opportunity Rating highlights the existing opportunity a state might have to do CDR based on natural resources, existing infrastructure, workforce, and other pre-existing qualities of a state. The Enabling Rating highlights whether the current policy and regulatory landscape of a state is ready to facilitate safe, supported CDR deployment.

The Atlas also includes ratings for 16 different Metric Categories (e.g., farm coverage, coastal access, clean energy availability, etc.), which are the metrics used to inform high level Opportunity and Enabling Ratings for each state. It also includes a detailed methodology deck and a workbook of over 80 individual metrics and accompanying data and metadata so users can explore state opportunities at a more granular level.

Other Considerations

This tool cannot and should not be used to do the following:

  1. To formally site projects. Siting decisions should be informed by much more granular data than the Atlas provides and substantive, two-way engagement with host communities, which could not be represented in this tool.
  2. To argue that an entire state will be supportive of a certain type of CDR. This tool showcases existing qualities of a state that may enable CDR deployment, not how stakeholders in that state feel about it. Serious work is needed to ensure local stakeholders desire CDR prior to deployment.
  3. To disqualify a type of CDR from consideration in a state. The Atlas shows which CDR approaches might have the highest potential in a state. It does not attempt to disqualify any approach from consideration. CDR is a new, rapidly evolving field. A state should not rule out a type of CDR just because this Atlas does not currently highlight it for their state. Additionally, a CDR approach may receive a low Opportunity Rating because a critical feedstock (e.g., agricultural land) is constrained, limiting the potential scale of the approach, but it still may be possible to deploy CDR at smaller scales in those geographies.
  4. To pit states against one another. The scale of CDR necessary to avoid climate tipping points is enormous and each state in the US has an opportunity to participate in scaling the CDR industry and reaping benefits along the way. States should learn from one another and take advantage of their unique resources to create enabling policy environments for CDR.

Disclaimer

The tool is provided with the understanding that RMI is not herein engaged in rendering professional advice or services, and no content is intended to serve as investment, legal, tax, accounting, or other regulated advice. You shall remain solely responsible for your use of the tool and acknowledge that any reliance upon the tool shall be entirely at your sole option and risk. If you download data from this tool, please note that the download might miss important updates to the tool and data. Although RMI is actively maintaining and updating the tool, all content is being provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind as to the ownership, accuracy, or adequacy of the content. Please reach out to Kyle Clark-Sutton (kclarksutton@rmi.org) and Isabel Wood (iwood@rmi.org) for more information, or if you have suggestions for data to include or additional feedback.

Acknowledgments

This tool was developed with support from Breakthrough Energy and the Grantham Foundation. We would also like to express gratitude to the many CDR companies and peer organizations that provided helpful feedback during the development of the Atlas. For a full list of contributors and reviewers, see slide 2 in the Atlas Methodology.