This op-ed by Lauren Gifford and Giana Amador appeared on Colorado Newsline on December 16, 2024.
Colorado has emerged as a climate leader with ambitious goals to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The state has more than tripled the amount of electricity derived from renewable energy, modernized its infrastructure, and made smart climate tech investments. And now, there’s a new industry that Colorado is beginning to invest in: carbon removal.
Carbon removal pathways take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it permanently. Scientists have figured out how to accelerate many of Earth’s natural processes to store carbon in plants, soils, rocks and deep underground. There’s direct air capture (giant fans that suck carbon out of the air), enhanced weathering (carbon-rich rock dust spread on fields), bio-oil sequestration (a dense substance including carbon that can be stored in abandoned oil wells), and more.
These approaches come with other benefits, too: helping to plug decommissioned oil wells to stop methane leaks, getting rid of brush and debris that fuel wildfires, improving soil conditions and crop yields for our state’s farmers, and bringing new jobs.
In Colorado specifically, carbon removal could make a big difference. State leaders — and leading national economists, innovators and educators — expect carbon removal to be a trillion-dollar industry. If Colorado continues to invest today, carbon removal could bring new jobs to our rural and urban communities while providing opportunities for upskilling and retraining our existing workforce.
A recent study by the Rhodium Group said direct air capture could contribute to around 85,000 annual jobs in Colorado alone by 2050: That’s nearly the same amount of workers currently supported by Colorado’s energy and natural resources industry. In particular, communities hit by the state’s shifting energy infrastructure stand to benefit.
Ultimately, the carbon removal industry should establish more homegrown job opportunities for Coloradan talent across technology, engineering, on-site operations, marketing and other spaces, while keeping important regional expertise and buying power in the state for the long term. For example, one carbon removal startup with operations in Fort Lupton could generate over $583 million in state tax revenue. Colorado State University has launched carbon management training and education programs, giving our students and workers the skills they need to thrive in the field.
To make good on this momentum, the Colorado Energy Office will publish an updated Carbon Management Roadmap to help shape the industry at the state level. Local leaders in Boulder County are pushing through carbon removal deployments to bring jobs to the community, reduce the risk of wildfires, and continue building up the green construction, manufacturing, and materials industries. Coloradans have also formed coalitions with Wyoming to help bring more (and bigger) carbon removal projects to the Rocky Mountain Region.
Back in Washington, D.C., Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado partnered with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to introduce the Carbon Dioxide Removal Investment Act to right-size the current tax code to support American companies removing carbon. In the meantime, ensuring we have the renewable energy — infrastructure and supply — to support Colorado’s newest climate industry must continue to be a priority.
Expect to see more carbon removal projects coming to your county and carbon removal-related jobs for you, your family, and your neighbors continue cropping up. These projects will ultimately help revitalize communities, farming land, industries like construction and agriculture, and the air we all breathe.
Carbon removal is poised to usher in a new industry — one built by Colorado for Colorado.