Ecosystem Capture
Ecological systems—including forests, grasslands, agricultural lands, and wetlands—absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and store the captured carbon in biomass. YCNCC scientists are advancing a number of ways to scale and enhance this naturally occurring process.
Geological & Ocean Capture
The Earth’s geological carbon cycle naturally removes CO2 from the atmosphere and regulates global temperature at million-year timescales. The ocean is the largest store of carbon on the Earth’s surface. YCNCC researchers are exploring how we accelerate these geological processes and scale the ocean carbon sink to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a climate-relevant timescale.
Industrial Carbon Utilization
Carbon is a core building block for many everyday products. Currently most of this carbon is derived from fossil sources. YCNCC supports research across departments and schools at Yale into novel ways to convert captured carbon dioxide into useful products, including fuels, plastics, building materials, and other industrial inputs.
