Scientific literature on carbon dioxide removal revealed as much larger through 
AI-enhanced systematic mapping

Lück, Sarah; Callaghan, Max; Borchers, Malgorzata; Cowie, Annette; Fuss, Sabine; Gidden, Matthew; Hartmann, Jens; Kammann, Claudia; Keller, David P.; Kraxner, Florian; Lamb, William F.; Mac Dowell, Niall; Müller-Hansen, Finn; Nemet, Gregory F.; Probst, Benedict S.; Renforth, Phil; Repke, Tim; Rickels, Wilfried; Schulte, Ingrid; Smith, Pete; Smith, Stephen M.; Thrän, Daniela; Troxler, Tiffany G.; Sick, Volker; van der Spek, Mijndert; Minx, Jan C.

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61485-8

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Scientific literature on carbon dioxide removal revealed as much larger through AI-enhanced systematic mapping

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/persons/resource/sarah.lueck

Lück, Sarah
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;
Submitting Corresponding Author, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/max.callaghan

Callaghan, Max
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Borchers, Malgorzata
External Organizations;

Cowie, Annette
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Sabine.Fuss

Fuss, Sabine
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Gidden, Matthew
External Organizations;

Hartmann, Jens
External Organizations;

Kammann, Claudia
External Organizations;

Keller, David P.
External Organizations;

Kraxner, Florian
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/William.Lamb

Lamb, William F.
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Mac Dowell, Niall
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/mhansen

Müller-Hansen, Finn
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Nemet, Gregory F.
External Organizations;

Probst, Benedict S.
External Organizations;

Renforth, Phil
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Tim.Repke

Repke, Tim
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Rickels, Wilfried
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Ingrid.Schulte

Schulte, Ingrid
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Smith, Pete
External Organizations;

Smith, Stephen M.
External Organizations;

Thrän, Daniela
External Organizations;

Troxler, Tiffany G.
External Organizations;

Sick, Volker
External Organizations;

van der Spek, Mijndert
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/jan.minx

Minx, Jan C.
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

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s41467-025-61485-8.pdf
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Lück, S., Callaghan, M., Borchers, M., Cowie, A., Fuss, S., Gidden, M., Hartmann, J., Kammann, C., Keller, D. P., Kraxner, F., Lamb, W. F., Mac Dowell, N., Müller-Hansen, F., Nemet, G. F., Probst, B. S., Renforth, P., Repke, T., Rickels, W., Schulte, I., Smith, P., Smith, S. M., Thrän, D., Troxler, T. G., Sick, V., van der Spek, M., Minx, J. C. (2025): Scientific literature on carbon dioxide removal revealed as much larger through AI-enhanced systematic mapping. - Nature Communications, 16, 6632.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61485-8

???ViewItemOverview_lblCiteAs???: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_33482

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Carbon dioxide removal plays an important role in any strategy to limit global
warming to well below 2 °C. Keeping abreast with the scientific evidence using
rigorous evidence synthesis methods is an important prerequisite for sus-
tainably scaling these methods. Here, we use artificial intelligence to provide a
comprehensive systematic map of carbon dioxide removal research. We find a
total of 28,976 studies on carbon dioxide removal—3–4 times more than
previously suggested. Growth in research is faster than for the field of climate
change research as a whole, but very concentrated in specific areas—such as
biochar, certain research methods like lab and field experiments, and parti-
cular regions like China. Patterns of carbon dioxide removal research contrast
with trends in patenting and deployment, highlighting the differing develop-
ment stages of these technologies. As carbon dioxide removal gains impor-
tance for the Paris climate goals, our systematic map can support rigorous
evidence synthesis for the IPCC and other assessments.