Negative emissions pose trade-offs among human health, planetary boundaries and mineral resources

Negative emissions will challenge global resource supply and environmental limits | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Negative emissions will challenge global resource supply and environmental limits Selene Cobo, Ángel Galán-Martín, Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6403773/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Meeting the climate goals will most likely require the large-scale deployment of Negative Emissions Technologies or Practices (NETPs), yet their sustainability implications remain poorly understood. Here, we conduct a prospective life cycle assessment of multiple NETPs, integrating mineral resource, health, and absolute sustainability indicators to quantify the impacts of CO 2 removal (CDR) between 2030 and 2050. Our comprehensive analysis reveals previously overlooked bottlenecks: biochar and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could sharply raise nutrient demand, further compromising food security, while direct air carbon capture and storage and ocean liming could critically exacerbate the mining levels of key mineral resources, despite generating the least collateral damage. These findings will help guide the sustainable and safe expansion of the CDR industry by balancing multiple risks, thereby minimizing unintended environmental and resource-related consequences. CO2 removal negative emissions technologies and practices life cycle assessment Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SICobo2025CEE13.06.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6403773","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":440496335,"identity":"f3dee7e3-306f-48c6-91d0-dffc081caf40","order_by":0,"name":"Selene 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