Yale Scientist: Open Data Key to Climate Solution Success

Scientists working to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have found an unexpected tool that could help save the planet: radical honesty.

Yale Professor Noah Planavsky co-authored a new study arguing that companies developing carbon removal technology need to share their data openly, even when it costs them competitive advantages. The reason? We're running out of time to figure out what actually works.

By mid-century, the world needs to remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year to meet climate goals. Right now, we're just getting started, testing everything from planting forests to spreading rock dust on farmland to restoring coastal wetlands.

Most investment in carbon removal goes to private companies that traditionally guard their secrets closely. But Planavsky, who has co-founded two carbon removal startups himself, says that approach won't get us where we need to go fast enough.

"The point of making investments today is to learn and build capacity for future scale," he explained to Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture News. Transparency helps everyone learn from both successes and failures much more quickly than working in isolation.

The professor doesn't think his request is actually that radical. Companies should share how they calculated their carbon removal rates, how much money they spent, and how much energy the process required. This information could help the entire field identify which approaches work best and deserve more investment.

The Ripple Effect

Opening up data could do more than speed up scientific progress. It could also build the public trust needed to scale these solutions to meaningful levels.

Every carbon removal approach has something different to teach us. Forest projects need better ways to ensure trees stay planted for decades. Coastal restoration requires fuller accounting of greenhouse gases from mangroves and marshes. Rock-based solutions need monitoring systems that work at massive scale without breaking the bank.

Planavsky refuses to accept that transparency hurts business. "If you have robust removals, at reasonable costs, with documented benefits, that should and will garner investment," he said.

The next 10 to 15 years will determine which carbon removal methods can actually deliver. With companies sharing what they learn, we might find solutions that not only pull carbon from the air but also help communities through better crop yields, restored ecosystems, and new jobs.

The climate crisis demands speed, and collaboration beats competition when the clock is ticking for everyone.