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Welcome to the ie-nets project!

Investigating the potential for Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) in Ireland

Most climate change mitigation scenarios analysed to date by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for efforts consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement (keeping global average temperature rise well below 2°C over pre-industrial), rely on presumed deployment of so-called “negative emissions technologies” (NETs) at very large (global) scales within a small number of decades. 

Negative emission technologies are composite technology systems or interventions which, on a full lifecycle basis, achieve net removal of one or more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Because of its long atmospheric lifetime, and dominant role in human-caused warming, NETs typically focus exclusively on carbon dioxide (CO2) removal. Example NET concepts include: Afforestation/Reforestation (AF), Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), Direct Air Capture of carbon dioxide (DAC), and enhanced soil carbon storage.

ie-nets is a two year research project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland (EPA) Research Programme 2014-2020 (grant number 2016-CCRP-MS.36). The project will build Irish research capacity and contribute to effective national policy in this emerging area. 

The overarching objective is to provide a detailed and rigorous assessment of the scale and speed of negative emissions technology deployment that is required by currently envisaged decarbonisation pathways (globally and nationally), consistent with the Paris agreement goals.  

The project will: 

  • evaluate the options and capacity for Ireland itself to directly contribute to negative emissions technology deployment; 
  • provide an evidence base for assessing the risks attaching to reliance on such presumptive future technology deployment in designing current (5-15 year) decarbonisation policy measures aligned with meeting the Paris temperature goals;
  • focus on identifying early research or policy actions that could significantly reduce the uncertainties attaching to the feasibility and costs of negative emissions technology, both globally and nationally.

The project is being undertaken jointly by Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin under the direction of Professor Barry McMullin (DCU) and Professor Mike Jones (TCD).

EPA Research Programme 2014-2020

The EPA's current Research Programme 2014-2020 is built around three pillars: Sustainability, Climate and Water. More information about the EPA Research Programme can be found by visiting the EPA Website where you can sign up for the quarterly Research Newsletter. This provides news and updates about research calls, events and publications that are of relevance to researchers and other interested parties. You can also follow EPA Research on Twitter @eparesearchnews for the very latest information and developments about the Research Programme and its projects.


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