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Policy Tracker > Mapping of funding opportunities methodology

Mapping of funding opportunities methodology

Mapping funding opportunities for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in Europe 

 

Methodology

The funding tracker developed by Carbon Gap uses the following criteria to classify projects relevant to carbon removal and assess their relevance and contribution to CDR within different funding and support mechanisms in Europe. Not all criteria are necessarily used at the same time, as the information and nature of the projects differ according to the initiative, source, and nature of the funding.  

The goal is to provide a picture of past, current, and upcoming funding opportunities relevant to CDR in the European ecosystem.   

The analysis of funding opportunities for CDR was based on the following definitions:   

  • Directly related: the resources targeted directly towards developing a removal method.  
  • Indirectly related: produces spillovers to removal methods and the ecosystem, such as developing CO2 transport and storage or strengthening MRV systems.  

The following questions were asked when looking at different funding opportunities for CDR: 

1. Is CDR explicitly mentioned in the project description? 

  • If yes, then consider this a direct CDR project 

Explicit mentions include the following: 

    • mention of carbon (dioxide) removal  
    • mention of a CDR method (for example, direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), biochar, enhanced weathering, soil carbon sequestration) 
  • If not, go to point 2 

 

2. Does the project description implicitly refer to CDR? 

  • If yes, then consider this a direct CDR project 

Implicit mentions of CDR include the following: 

    • Description of CDR processes without naming a CDR method (for example, increasing carbon sinks in agricultural/forest soils) 
    • Certain types of CO2 capture facilities could be considered CDR if these capture CO2 of biogenic origin (for example, a CCS facility is added to a waste incineration plant that (partly) combusts biogenic waste. 
  • If not, go to point 3 

 

3. Does the project have spillovers to CDR methods? 

  • If yes, then consider this an indirect CDR project 

Spillovers to CDR methods include: 

    • CO2 infrastructure, including CO2 transport and storage facilities 
    • Digital infrastructure aimed at tracking CO2 emissions  
    • Measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) methodologies 
  • If not, then do not consider this project. 

 

How to analyse a project related to CDR: 

The following data was collected for each funding opportunity (if available): 

  • Name of the opportunity (text) 
  • Whether the opportunity is open or not (yes/no) 
  • The jurisdictional level (EU, national, or private) 
  • The geography (EU or country/countries) 
  • A description of the opportunity (text) 
  • The category of the opportunity (call for projects, projects, funds, etc…)
  • The funding body/funding program 
  • The type of funding opportunity (grant, loan, subsidy, etc…) 
  • The CDR method(s) targeted by the opportunity  
  • The funding available in EUR (if initial funding was in another currency, the exchange rate at the time of the analysis (Q4 2024) was used to convert the amount in EUR) 
  • The year(s) the opportunity is or was open 
  • The relation of the opportunity to CDR (direct or indirect) 
  • The TRL covered by the opportunity  
  • The date of opening (in the case of an open funding opportunity) 
  • The date of closing (in the case of an open funding opportunity) 
  • The URL