The Global Decarbonisation Potential of Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology-based technologies can impact many sectors and are often targeted at improved environmental outcomes. Here, we discuss synthetic biology applications that can lead to long-term decarbonisation and quantify the potential using a top-down approach. We find that promoting the restoration of agricultural land to natural ecosystems has the most potential. Boosting food production by raising agricultural productivity or producing alternative foods promotes this restoration by reducing agricultural land requirements. The carbon stocks in agricultural soil can also be increased. Reducing emissions in agriculture, industry and transport represents the second largest potential. Geoengineering-based mitigation and sequestration in nature is third. We outline what scale may be required for some technologies to achieve one gigaton (GtCe) of decarbonisation. We also highlight differences in the sensitivities of these technologies to carbon prices, agricultural land prices and greater circularity in economic processes. We hope that our high-level view of the decarbonisation potential of different synthetic biology application areas helps identify priorities and promotes the long-term contribution of these technologies towards climate change mitigation.