Coupling Circularity With Carbon Negativity in Food and Agriculture Systems

Abstract

Achieving a circular economy is critical for a sustainable future, particularly in sectors that currently produce resource-intensive products in a linear fashion, such as food and agriculture. At the same time, technologies that remove atmospheric CO2, often referred to as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) or carbon negativity, must be developed and deployed rapidly if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Circularity and CDR are often assessed and discussed independently, even though they are highly intertwined. Innovations to food and agriculture systems are essential to achieving a circular economy and enabling rapid deployment of CDR technologies. We explore critical areas of technology that must undergo rapid innovation (upstream and downstream) to food processing and consumption, namely precision and regenerative agriculture and biorefining, respectively. If implemented at scale, these two areas of technology have the potential to couple circularity with carbon negativity in food production systems.