Rapidly advancing technologies hold promise for addressing climate change by removing, storing, and using CO2. Under the right conditions, these technologies could create a new carbon economy larger than that of renewable energy. Unlocking the potential of carbon management requires more than just technological innovation. Research is needed to help build new business models, drive new investment vehicles for public and private capital, and shape new policies at the city, state and national levels.
Led by Dr. Julio Friedmann, our carbon management research initiative studies the public policy, financial and economic aspects of removing, storing, and using CO2. This work complements the world-class research already underway at Columbia’s Earth Institute, of which CGEP is an affiliate, on the science and technology around carbon capture, storage and utilization.
This new initiative strengthens Columbia’s academic leadership in the field of carbon dioxide management. Across much of the Earth Institute, faculty and scientists are conducting pioneering research into the removal and sequestration of carbon, particularly in basaltic and ultramafic rocks. This cross-disciplinary work includes the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and the Center on Global Energy Policy along with colleagues at the School of Engineering and affiliates based outside of Columbia and overseas. Working together, these groups have established a jointly funded “Women in Energy” program and have been organizing a “CO2 utilization roundtable” each year since 2016. The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law are currently working on a DOE-funded CarbonSAFE project proposing large-scale permanent storage of CO2 in deep ocean basalt formations.
Experts from across Columbia serve on a faculty advisory committee, created with the goal of stimulating broad engagement in the initiative across the University. Faculty steering committee members include:
- Dr. Scott Barrett, Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics
- Professor Jason Bordoff, Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs; Director, Center on Global Energy Policy
- Professor Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice; Director, Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School
- Dr. David Goldberg, Lamont Research Professor in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Associate Director, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- Dr. Alex Halliday, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Director, Earth Institute
- Dr. Peter Kelemen, Arthur D. Storke Professor and Chair of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Dr. Alissa Park, Lenfest Chair in Applied Climate Science; Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy
