Carbon Removal Alliance

Washington, D.C., United States

This project advances policies that support a diverse set of permanent, high-quality carbon removal technologies.

In addition to rapid decarbonization across all sectors, the globe needs to remove 7-9 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually by 2050 to meet Paris Agreement temperature targets. Currently, 2.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ are removed annually, primarily from natural systems, such as forests and oceans. Just 1.35 million tonnes (less than 0.1%) are removed annually using novel methods such as enhanced rock weathering, biochar production, and direct air capture.

A wastewater treatment facility in New Haven, Connecticut where Carbon Removal Alliance member CREW Carbon integrates their technology.

Drastic innovation is required in the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) sector to counteract the residual emissions that cannot be eliminated through decarbonization. However, scaling CDR technologies faces several challenges, including high costs, energy requirements, and infrastructure development. Effective public policy is essential to achieving this endeavor.

The Carbon Removal Alliance connects the innovators and entrepreneurs leading the CDR field with federal policymakers to ensure that the next generation of policy aligns with the needs of the sector. They support public policy efforts to advance technologies that permanently remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, and aim to create a trillion-dollar industry that furthers climate goals, economic growth, and high-quality jobs.

Through their work, they promote diverse methods of CDR, emphasizing permanence, net negativity, additionality, and verifiability, while advocating for technology-inclusive policies and community-centered benefits. The policies they work to pass are essential for rapid innovation and market development, offering significant economic opportunities while mitigating climate change impacts.

How does it work?

The Carbon Removal Alliance advocates for pro-deployment policies that help bring carbon removal projects online all over the country and make the United States an undisputed global leader of this industry.

In the near term, these policies clear permitting pathways, offer tax credits, and fund demonstration projects. Longer term, policy brings carbon removal to a climate-relevant scale with ambitious, market-oriented policy. Together, these efforts ensure there will be gigatonnes of carbon removal online in the United States to help us meet our climate goals.

Here's how:

1. Developing market mechanisms: They create and support policies that establish and expand market opportunities for CDR, making it financially viable and attractive for companies to invest in and adopt these technologies. One of these policies was recently introduced — the Foreign Pollution Fee Act, a carbon border adjustment mechanism.

2. Protecting federal CDR programs: They advocate for the protection of research, development, and demonstration programs across government, helping carbon removal technologies become more efficient and affordable.

3. Building champions for CDR: They build political will to support carbon removal policies among lawmakers—making the economic potential of carbon removal specific and visible with congressional site visits to carbon removal projects, publishing regionally-specific analysis and resources, and working with local media.

Why this project?

We are excited to support the Carbon Removal Alliance due to their track record of successfully advancing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) policies that directly impact start-ups, innovators, and buyers. They prioritize policies that align with the realities of private-sector technology development and commercialization. Some of their recent accomplishments include:

1. Facilitating federal appropriations: They secured government funding for CDR programs by submitting more than 300 appropriations requests and meeting with congressional staff. The majority of these requests were passed as part of the Senate package for the 2024 fiscal year and have also been included for the 2025 fiscal year.

2. Influencing government agencies: They helped shape the world’s first government CDR procurement program, the Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize from the United States Department of Energy, which allocated $35M to support a broad range of CDR technologies. They also helped inform the Carbon Negative Shot Pilots and Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs programs to support CDR innovation across various technology readiness levels.

3. Developing CDR policies: They’ve championed efforts on demand-side policies with federal policymakers, working on initiatives to expand government procurement and tax credits for all CDR pathways.

4. Building congressional champions: They’ve established themselves as a trusted source for Congress and the administration, educating policymakers on CDR pathways and participating in major events like Climate Week NYC and the Carbon Management Meeting from the United States Department of Energy.

5. Shaping legislation: They’ve worked with policymakers to craft key CDR policies, such as the CREATE Act, the CDR Leadership Act, and the CREST Act.

Travertine Technologies opened the doors to their Ontario, New York facility last year with the help of Carbon Removal Alliance. Their technology removes carbon by recycling and repurposing of mineral waste that comes from mining.

We’ll never meet our climate goals without carbon removal technologies and the companies building them.

After more than a decade of fundamental research and field building, we’re on the precipice of having a bonafide climate solution. Carbon removal technologies are no longer theoretical or confined to the lab. They are being piloted all over the world—on farms, in industrial facilities, in waterways and oceans, and even in wells underground. These pilot projects speed up learning curves, lower costs, and cultivate political will and community interest.

But there are too few projects online today to be on track for gigaton scale by 2050. According to CDR.fyi, 38 million tonnes of carbon removal have been contracted over the next decade, and fewer than one million tonnes have been delivered. These projects won’t get built without a supportive policy environment—and that’s where the Carbon Removal Alliance steps in.

Press mentions

The carbon removal industry puts down roots as it grows

The U.S. Gave Up Its Lead in Clean Energy Sectors Before. It Might Be Doing It Again.

How America could lose at its own game

The mad dash to save direct air capture hubs from DOGE

A pesky steel mill byproduct finds a second life helping the planet

Project updates

May2026

Advancing carbon removal from policy protection to deployment

The Carbon Removal Alliance has published their mining technology and carbon removal work, including a full policy memo and accompanying educational content....

Read update →

Jan2026

What our projects are working toward in 2026

Looking to the new year, Wren subscribers will help scale climate solutions, advocate for smart policy, and protect nature-based projects that deliver real, measurable impact....

Read update →

Apr2025

Striving for 100M tonnes of carbon dioxide removal and 130K jobs

Our project partner is educating policymakers through industry reporting and site visits to share how carbon removal could create 130K jobs while removing 100M tonnes of CO₂ per year....

Read update →

Where is the project located?

The Carbon Removal Alliance is a non-profit organization registered in Washington, D.C. in the United States. Although much of their policy advocacy takes place in the capital, the companies they represent develop CDR projects across the United States.

Who is behind this project?

The Carbon Removal Alliance has amassed a team of the best known and respected leaders in the carbon removal space, led by Giana Amador, their executive director.

Over her career, Giana has founded and led two of the field’s most influential organizations and shaped climate policy, making the US the undisputed leader in carbon removal after plucking it from relative obscurity in 2015. Today there are hundreds of carbon removal companies and billions of federal dollars with her fingerprints on it. Giana’s perspective on climate change was born in the Central Valley of California: a politically blended district that produces a quarter of the nation’s food and much of the state’s fossil energy. But with acute heat and mounting land pressure, the Valley—like much of the world—needs more climate solutions. One of those solutions is carbon removal.

In 2015, Giana co-founded Carbon180 with Noah Deich to bring carbon removal into the climate movement. Part incubator, part policy nonprofit, Carbon180 was the first dedicated carbon removal organization. There, Giana brought the field’s first philanthropic backers to the table, incubated pioneering companies, and built the advocacy engine that delivered critical policies to support entrepreneurs. Giana has been recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 and Entrepreneur's 100 Most Influential Women in Climate. She holds a degree in Environmental Economics & Policy from UC Berkeley.

The Carbon Removal Alliance team

The team is also made up of:

• Chris Bowman, Director of Government Affairs. Chris leads the organization’s advocacy work in Washington, DC. Previously, he spent over a decade working on energy and climate policy in Congress, including as Senior Professional Staff Member at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee where he led Chairman Joe Manchin’s work on carbon management, renewable energy, energy tax, and climate policy.

• Dan Frost, Deputy Director of Communications. Dan leads the organization’s digital, media relations, and communications strategy work. Previously, Dan was an Associate Vice President at Precision Strategies, a communications and public affairs firm working with top companies, causes and candidates to build programs that drive engagement as well as lasting change.

• Dana Jacobs, Chief of Staff. Dana is a strategic partner and program director, having worked in the carbon removal space since 2020. Previously, she led public affairs at Carbon180, where she helped bring carbon removal into the national political consciousness, steering pressrooms across the country to examine and cover carbon removal more thoroughly.

• Eli Cain, Deputy Director of Policy. Eli leads the organization’s policy development, working closely with carbon removal companies to translate their needs into effective policy. Previously, Eli led a $115 million carbon removal funding portfolio at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His portfolio included the $35 million Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, the first government program ever to purchase carbon removal credits directly from the private sector.

Together, they work with their team to advance the mission of the Carbon Removal Alliance—to scale CDR technologies and influence policy development.

How is the money spent?

Receipts and documents

We keep a public record of all payment receipts we've received from our project partners. You can browse the receipt ledger here.

The Carbon Removal Alliance implements a multi-faceted approach to advance carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies and policies. Funding from Wren supports the following activities:

1. Lobbying to shape and pass legislation by facilitating direct meetings, site visits, and events with Congressional members and staff to educate decision-makers on and build long-term support for CDR.

2. Designing policies rooted in the realities of private sector technology development and commercialization.

3. Working with federal agencies to ensure that government policies are designed in a way that will uplift CDR companies.

Contact information

General, Carbon Removal Alliance, info@carbonremovalalliance.org