In October 2017, the Royal Society hosted the US-UK Sackler Forum at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, in partnership with the National Academy of Sciences. This Forum looked in depth at two previously underexplored areas relating to the need to limit carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. The first of these was the potential to use carbon dioxide as a commodity in industry and manufacturing, which explored to what extent carbon dioxide might be of some value as a resource rather than just a costly and harmful waste. The second was to examine the role of agriculture and forestry in the sequestration of carbon dioxide and whether it is possible to better harness the way plants, crops, trees and soils assimilate carbon dioxide.
The report produced reflects the discussion during the Forum and contains a ‘vision’ for using carbon dioxide as well as a framework for carbon capture and use (CCU) technology assessment.