Carbon management involves the capture, transport, conversion, and/or sequestration of CO2 to prevent its emission to the atmosphere, or to remove existing CO2 from the atmosphere. It could contribute to a safe and stable climate during and after the transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions system by addressing emissions from subsectors of the economy that will be challenging or impossible to decarbonize through zero-carbon technologies alone (e.g., aviation, some industrial processes, or on-demand electricity generation). Carbon management technologies are being developed, demonstrated, and implemented today, including with federal government support. However, many environmental justice organizations and communities have expressed opposition to carbon management due to concerns over (1) short- and long-term risks and impacts to health, the environment, and public safety from the construction, operation, and decommissioning of carbon management technologies; (2) full life cycle carbon mitigation efficacy; (3) cumulative burdens to communities disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel and industrial impacts; (4) the potential for carbon management to allow continued dependence on and harm from fossil fuels; (5) the regulatory systems for protection of public health, environment, and safety, and (6) the integrity of the research on these topics.

At the request of the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene an ad hoc committee to examine the safety, societal considerations, and environmental and health impacts of engineered carbon management technologies and infrastructure in the United States. Such technologies and infrastructure include point source carbon capture for industry and power, direct air capture, biomass carbon removal and storage, CO2 transport, CO2 conversion, and carbon sequestration. For all carbon management approaches, the committee will consider the likelihood and scale of implementation, life cycle impacts, and tradeoffs in benefits and risks during construction, operation, and decommissioning. The committee will evaluate how policies that support carbon management might perpetuate fossil fuel use and identify gaps in knowledge about carbon management that require further research and demonstration. The committee's analysis will especially focus on identifying, documenting, and addressing impacts to communities burdened by energy and industrial systems harms and environmental injustices.

The committee will answer the following questions as it collects information and publishes a report with findings and recommendations:

1. Technologies and scale of potential future implementation: What engineered carbon management technologies and infrastructure are being implemented or proposed to be implemented at a large scale in the United States, and what are their characteristics? Where, how, and at what scale are they likely to be deployed? What approaches and technologies are still at an early stage of development?
2. Risks of harm to human health, the environment, and communities: What risks and cumulative impacts to human health, the environment, and public safety do carbon management technologies and infrastructure pose? Atmospheric and other environmental emissions, water (including subsurface) and soil impacts, and public safety (including explosions, leaks, and induced seismicity) should be considered. What carbon management technologies and infrastructure present the most risks, and why? How does location and type of technology implementation influence risks? The analysis should especially consider impacts of carbon management on communities that are heavily burdened by energy system harms and environmental injustices.
3. Potential benefits to human health, the environment, and communities: What benefits could carbon management technologies and infrastructure bring for GHG and criteria pollutant emissions mitigation, human health, or the local environment? What other benefits to host communities, such as jobs or economic development, are associated with carbon management technologies and infrastructure? How does location and type of technology and infrastructure impact potential benefits? The analysis should especially consider impacts of carbon management on communities that are heavily burdened by energy system harms and environmental injustices.
4. Approaches to reduce harms and increase benefits: What is the status of whole-of-government efforts to minimize harm to health, the environment, and communities from carbon management technologies and infrastructure? What technologies, policies, monitoring, or practices can be developed and implemented to create transparency, reduce harms, and increase benefits of carbon management for communities?
5. Expanding the social license for carbon management through public engagement: What public engagement actions and accountability measures (e.g., community benefit agreements) can improve carbon management implementations for communities? How can these actions supplement and complement, not duplicate, currently required and recommended federal actions such as those under the National Environmental Policy Act? What information and data should be collected and publicly shared to build confidence and trust with host communities and validate claims about a project's safety, risks, and benefits?
6. Implications of carbon management policy on emissions and fossil fuel use: What policies best support carbon management to prevent and remove GHG emissions, while also ensuring reductions in fossil fuel dependency over time? What are the impacts of these policies and structures on host communities of existing fossil fuel, energy, or industrial infrastructure (whether or not they also host carbon management facilities and infrastructure)?
7. Assessment of regulatory systems: What regulatory bodies govern carbon management? What is their history of implementing environmental regulation and handling environmental justice concerns?
8. Evaluation of research on carbon management: What is the status of research on carbon management, considering authorship, funding source, and quality of peer review? How can an independent, unbiased body of knowledge be developed and more broadly disseminated?

The committee will be constituted following the National Academies' policies and procedures, including those relating to composition and balance, conflicts of interest, and independence for committees used in the development of findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The committee will include individuals with diverse backgrounds, expertise, and experiences. It will seek information from affected frontline and fence line communities, scientists, social scientists, engineers, and others familiar with individual technologies as well as larger economic and technical systems, and any data available on project impacts and risk mitigation, including from Department of Energy-funded carbon management projects and programs led by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, and Department of Transportation.