INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Professor and Director of Research Jerome Dumortier with the O’Neill School at IU Indianapolis is part of a new large-scale analysis from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory highlighting opportunities to help remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the United States.
Researchers from all 50 states contributed to the Roads to Removal report, which provides a pathway for the United States to meet its goal of becoming a net-zero greenhouse gas nation by 2050. In the report, Dumortier and other researchers collectively outline ways in which different regions across the country can remove what researchers and scientists predict to be at least one combined gigaton—1 billion metric tons—of carbon dioxide equivalents each year.
Dumortier’s area of expertise in the report focuses on research surrounding agriculture, bioenergy production, and electric vehicles.
“We now have more electric vehicles in the United States, which reduces the demand for biofuel and ethanol, hence reducing the demand for corn,” Dumortier explains. “A lower demand for corn means there's some land plant reallocation that could happen.”
Dumortier’s research points to three specific changes—ones that could be especially impactful in Indiana—that can help the nation achieve its goal of decarbonizing the economy, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year:
- Shift and support a new type of crop—such as switchgrass—that is more efficient in terms of energy content per acre. Dumortier says switchgrass absorbs more carbon than corn and can generate more of the electricity needed to power the nation’s growing electric vehicle fleet.
- Review and adjust crop management practices. That includes practices like using cover crops that increase the soil carbon levels and managing the intensity with which fields are tilled, which could reduce carbon released from the soil during the tilling process.
- Examine harvesting agricultural residues left in fields, such as cornstalks, leaves, and cobs. These leftovers can also be used to create the energy necessary to provide electricity for electric vehicles or other biofuels.
Dumortier acknowledges the barriers to and controversial nature of these shifts. He says policies must be in place to make changing crops a financially viable option for farmers. He adds more research is needed to better understand how much agricultural residue can be removed without negatively reducing nutrients necessary to Indiana’s soil.
The Roads to Removal report was two years in the making and is designed to help leaders understand how to create a more environmentally resilient nation in addressing global climate change. It was commissioned by the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies, the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, with support from the ClimateWorks Foundation.
###
MEDIA CONTACT : Leslie Wells, Director of Communications | O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs | 317-278-9670 | wellsle@iu.edu
About the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Indianapolis: The O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Indianapolis helps address the issues of modern society by preparing its students to lead the organizations that make and enforce laws, shape public policy, keep our nation safe, protect the planet, reduce disaster impact, and support fellow citizens. O’Neill faculty, their research, and work in the community focus on topics relating to criminal justice, civic leadership, media and public affairs, urban affairs, public safety management, nonprofit management, environmental sustainability, and public policy.