Biotransformative CDR - A New Approach to CO2 Removal

November 20, 2025

Richard Conan

Hosted by Jim Hurrell

Abstract

For decades, biological carbon removal has centered on enhancing soil organic matter—a domain where Colorado State University has long been a global leader. Yet despite real advances in understanding carbon cycling, progress toward scalable, durable carbon storage has been constrained by two stubborn limitations: measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) uncertainty, and the inherent impermanence of biologically derived carbon. Once I grasped how central durability is to meaningful climate impact—and how little progress we were making on quantifying or extending it—I couldn’t un-see the problem. That realization led to a pivot from traditional soil carbon management toward what we now call biotransformative carbon dioxide removal (BT-CDR): the idea that plants can be engineered to synthesize environmentally benign yet chemically persistent biopolymers capable of millennial-scale carbon storage. Our initial focus on rare L-sugars as decomposition-resistant compounds ultimately brought us back to first principles—asking what, exactly, controls decomposition in soil, and what structural features make organic molecules resist microbial metabolism. Through that lens, we have identified and begun biosynthesizing a new class of hydrophobic, crystalline biogenic polymers that combine biological scalability with the durability once thought possible only through engineered or geochemical means. This talk will trace that scientific journey—from soil carbon to synthetic biology—and discuss the implications of coupling plant metabolism with long-term climate stabilization.

Dr. Richard Conant is professor and department head for the Ecosystem Science and Sustainability department at Colorado State University. He is a soil biogeochemist and his work is focused on understanding carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils to help us understand how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. He feels lucky to be working in a field that is so important and with so much to learn at a time when new analytical tools can quickly generate insights never before imagined. To expand the reach of their work, he worked with other ESS faculty to create the graduate-level Carbon Management program that’s impacting students across campus. He has helped launch startup companies in the sustainability arena and is a leader of the CSU Carbon Management Thematic Unite of Excellence. Dr. Conant earned his Ph.D at Arizona State University in 1997.