The Institute for Carbon Management at UCLA: Pioneering Solutions for a Sustainable Future

The Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) stands as a cross-campus technology-translation entity dedicated to engineering carbon management solutions for a sustainable tomorrow. Founded in 2019, ICM translates pioneering carbon management solutions from the laboratory bench-scale to pre-commercial and commercial-scale devices, prototypes, and software solutions. This article delves into the ICM's mission, organization, key initiatives, and broader contributions to sustainability efforts at UCLA.

Mission and Organization

The Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) at UCLA is a group of scientists, researchers, engineers, and business experts who work with research groups and entrepreneurs to solve the toughest climate problems to rapidly translate and scale-up technologies from lab-scale to commercial-scale prototypes, eventually spinning them out as commercial ventures (start-ups). To do this, we partner with federal and state agencies, corporations and industry bodies, family offices and foundations and investors to drive impact.

ICM is organized into action teams that are convergent, agile, and world-class. These action teams have enabled ICM-born technologies to be awarded the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, and the 2021 Liveability Challenge, among others.

Key Initiatives and Technologies

ICM focuses on two main areas:

Carbon Dioxide Removal: Developing technologies that capture and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Critical Materials Processing: Creating new supply chains and processing approaches for critical materials and elements (e.g., Li, Ni, Co, Mn, Mo) that are foundational to accelerating the clean energy transition, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of extractive processes.

A prominent example of ICM's work is the SeaChange technology, which leverages the oceans to effect carbon removal. This carbon dioxide removal process uses renewable electricity to entrap carbon dioxide found in seawater in the form of inert, solid carbonates and dissolved bicarbonate ions, allowing durable, permanent and energy-efficient carbon removal.

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Collaboration with AltaSea

AltaSea and the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering’s Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) have announced an agreement to demonstrate carbon removal technologies on the 35-acre AltaSea campus at the Port of Los Angeles later this year. “AltaSea’s mission is to convene the best and brightest that are fighting climate change through innovative technology, and ICM’s carbon removal technology is a gamechanger in our global fight against climate change,” said AltaSea President & CEO Terry Tamminen. “AltaSea’s campus is California’s hub for the blue economy, and there is no better place in North America for UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management to demonstrate its pioneering SeaChange technology,” said ICM Director and civil and environmental engineering, and materials science and engineering professor, Gaurav N. Dante Simonetti, ICM’s Associate Director for Technology Translation, will also join in the effort.

UCLA's Broader Sustainability Efforts

The Institute for Carbon Management is part of a larger network of sustainability initiatives at UCLA, involving over 600 faculty and thousands of students from every corner of campus. UCLA has over 30 different research centers and labs focused on the wide variety of topics encompassed under environmental and sustainability work. Each provides students and faculty an opportunity to explore ways to solve complex problems within a sustainability framework that aims to create socially equitable, economically viable, and environmentally conscious communities. Although each campus group works toward a unique mission, we collaborate across areas of expertise to accomplish shared goals. These efforts span various departments and centers, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to addressing environmental challenges.

Key Research Centers and Initiatives

The Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES): A cross-campus research institute educating the next generation of environmental leaders and moving science into action. IoES undergraduate and graduate programs unite natural science, social science, law, public policy, and humanities to understand multidimensional challenges. Students and faculty collaborate on cutting-edge research, and IoES partnerships put expertise to work with businesses, nonprofits, agencies, and communities.
The California Center for Sustainable Communities: Exists to create actionable science that improves the sustainability of urban systems. It aims to provide intellectual and conceptual frameworks for new synthesis and thinking in sustainability research for all Californians.
The Center for Clean Air: Investigates the source, the transport and transformation, and environmental and society impacts of local, urban, regional, and global air pollution. Members of the center investigate formation mechanisms and dynamics, human exposure and health effects, and address real-world policy driven questions of how to most effectively move toward clean air in our cities.

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The Center for Community Engagement: Promotes and supports community-engaged research, teaching and learning in partnership with communities and organizations throughout Los Angeles, regionally, nationally and globally.
The Center for Corporate Environmental Performance: Coordinates research and teaching on the environmental impact of corporations and market responses to green strategies. The center partners with corporations to improve their environmental performance while remaining competitive.
The Center for Climate Science: Conducts research that helps communities better understand how climate change will affect them and how to respond. We work with communities to produce information they can put into action, and we engage the public so they are empowered to advocate for their futures.
The UCLA Center for Developing Leadership in Science (CDLS): A nationally recognized program that fosters inclusive excellence in STEM. Since 2018, CDLS has supported more than 500 fellows, from high school students to postdocs, through hands-on research, leadership training, and community collaboration.
CESR: Conducts research in the physics and biogeochemistry of the Earth’s atmosphere, cryosphere, and oceans. In addition, CESR is a base for a broad, cooperative effort to develop, test, and apply comprehensive numerical modeling capabilities for the Earth’s climate‐for periods extending over previous millennia, the present, and the coming centuries of anthropogenically induced changes.

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The Center for Environmental Research and Community Engagement: Focused on interdisciplinary projects spanning environmental science and engineering, chemistry, policy, regulation, public health, risk assessment, and communication.
The Center for Environmental Statistics (CES): Analyzes and models data sets describing traffic counts, trip generation, urban economics, water supply, water quality, weather, seismicity, wild fires, and air quality of locations mostly in Southern California.
The Center for Healthy Climate Solutions: Helps communities adapt and respond to the adverse health effects of climate change. They turn public health research into actionable policies and practices.
The Center for Impact: Conducts research on corporate sustainability disclosures, working toward enhancing transparency in sustainability reporting.
COEH: Housed within UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, the School of Nursing and the David Geffen School of Medicine, the center’s education and research serve government, industry, schools, health professionals and the general public.
The UCLA Center for the Study of Women: Works towards a world in which education and scholarship are tools for social justice feminism, improving the lives of people of all genders. It is an internationally recognized center for research on gender, sexuality, and women’s issues and the first organized research unit of its kind in the University of California system.
CTR: The unifying goal of the senior scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students at the CTR is to understand the biotic processes that underlie and maintain the diversity of life in the tropics and to advance conservation efforts that protect endangered species and habitats.
The Emmett Institute: The nation’s leading law school center focused on climate change and the environment. Students and faculty work on energy, water and land-use law and policy at the local, national and international levels.
The Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic: Trains law students in environmental lawyering. Under the supervision of faculty who are experienced environmental lawyers, students work on behalf of environmental and community groups on litigation and regulatory matters.
Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering (JIFRESSE): A scientific collaboration between UCLA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to improve understanding of global climate change and to develop future projections about its effect on regional climates and environments.
The Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS): An incubator for new research and collaboration on storytelling, communications, and media in the service of environmental conservation and equity.
The Lewis Center: Promotes the study, understanding and solution of regional policy issues, with special reference to Southern California, including problems of the environment, urban design, housing, community and neighborhood dynamics, transportation and economic development.
The Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC): One of eight collaborative networks in California that strive to build regional resilience to climate impacts.
The Luskin Center for Innovation: An interdisciplinary research center focused on environmental sustainability, with initiatives including advanced transportation, clean energy, climate action, and sustainable water.
The IoES Marine Center: Studies the sensitivity of marine environments to anthropogenic impacts.
The Garrick Institute for the Risk Sciences: Structured to be the umbrella organization of research centers in the University of California, Los Angeles to address domain-specific research and development needs.
The Stunt Ranch Reserve: A preserved natural chaparral habitat (naturally burned in 1995) used for research and education.
The UCLA Water Resources Group: Composed of faculty and researchers across campus who have expertise in water resources, here in California, the nation and around the world.

Campus Sustainability Initiatives

UCLA has implemented a range of sustainability initiatives across its campus operations. These include efforts to reduce waste, conserve water, promote sustainable transportation, and procure environmentally friendly products.

Waste Management

Overall waste created by daily community members at UCLA dropped by 422 tons from the 2023-24 fiscal year to 2024-25. This feeds into the campus’s goal of reducing the amount of waste produced by each person on site per day. The waste diversion for UCLA, without construction and demolition, rose from 52% in the 2023-24 fiscal year to 55% in 2024-25. This number is the highest diversion rate for UCLA since the 2015-16 baseline year. UCLA campus food service operations, managed by UCLA Dining, Associated Students of UCLA (ASUCLA) and third-party food operators, have made significant progress in phasing out single-use plastics.

Water Conservation

While UCLA’s water use reduction is significant at over 30% from the baseline, growth has still outpaced conservation, resulting in a reduction that falls short of the 36% target.

Sustainable Transportation

While the UCLA population has increased by almost 10,000 students, faculty and staff, automobile commutes declined in 2024, according to UCLA Transportation’s State of the Commute 2024 report. The award includes funds for the expansion of UCLA’s BruinBus fleet and its expansion to 100% electric. The grant will also fund California’s first electric road charging system.

Sustainable Procurement

Green spend is defined as meeting preferred or minimum criteria in UC’s Sustainable Procurement Guidelines. During fiscal year 2023-24, UCLA’s Vending Services department fully transitioned all beverages from plastic bottles to aluminum cans. Suppliers reporting: Electronics (12), Furniture (6), Cleaning supplies (5), Office supplies (5).

Green Building

UCLA’s portfolio expanded to 68 LEED certifications by adding four in fiscal year 2024-25: the Platinum-certified renovation of Paul Revere Williams’ LaKretz Botany Building and Gold-certified renovations of three medical facilities - Rosenfeld Hall, the Medical Plaza 100 MRI Suite and the Center for Advanced Biotherapies.

Food and Dining

The top-rated campus for dining in the nation, UCLA fosters collaboration among researchers and chefs to understand how food choices can impact the Earth and develop new healthy and sustainable menus.

Community Engagement

Acts of kindness kept the community connected, and UCLA researchers provided soil testing for impacted residents, conducted air quality monitoring and contributed their expertise for resilient recovery as part of an independent Blue Ribbon Commission. Students and staff work together at UCLA to recover and distribute food and supplies through the basic needs program and surplus programs like Sustainable Move Out.

Awards and Recognition

UCLA became the first campus in California to achieve a Gold level Green Grounds certification. The campus was also honored with a 2025 Sustainability Award for Energy Efficiency from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Challenges and Setbacks

UCLA’s overall emissions increased in 2024 due to a major project at the cogeneration plant that required the shutdown of one of the engines for replacement. While the plant was offline, UCLA had to purchase higher-emissions electricity and rely on a less efficient auxiliary boiler. UCLA Dining’s sustainable spend percentage declined due to fiscal challenges, supply constraints and changes in the definition of sustainable food in the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education STARS program 3.0.

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