“I am always encouraged by the energy, enthusiasm, and creativity I see from those working on climate and energy challenges. It gives me confidence and hope knowing there is a very motivated community of people who have dedicated their careers to these questions…”
This newsletter features Emily Connor, Program Manager for carbon dioxide removal and conversion projects with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
Experienced in renewable energy investing, Emily was most recently with the Yale Carbon Containment Lab, where she focused on deploying methane abatement and carbon storage pilot projects. She is a graduate of Penn State University and Yale University.
Could you explain what you do?
I work for the Department of Energy (DOE) supporting the development of new technologies that use carbon dioxide to create products designed to help remove CO2 from the atmosphere. These technologies are one important way to reduce emissions. Products made from CO2 can also help offset costs associated with capturing carbon dioxide and reduce emissions from industries where it is currently very hard to do so.
How did you become interested in carbon removal?
I spent several years with a start-up working to develop and deploy solar projects across the US and saw how the solar industry had scaled and matured. I became interested in supporting additional lower technology readiness level (TRL) technologies which are needed to reduce and remove emissions. I saw an opportunity with carbon removal to be a part of the same type of government-enabled research and development and commercial deployment that helped launch renewables and bring down costs. I think robust carbon removal technologies are one important tool in a suite of approaches needed to ensure we avoid the worst impacts of climate change.