Environmentalists have long been sceptical of carbon capture and storage, which began in the oil and gas industry. But there’s nothing else like it for storing emissions from industry.
The view from the Louisiana state capitol. Louisiana accounts for nearly one-sixth of U.S. oil-refining capacity.
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Carbon capture is turning the oil and gas industry into a critical player for mitigating climate change – while its products continue to heat up the planet.
Producing concrete blocks with captured carbon, like these in Brooklyn, NY., has both economic and climate benefits.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
The most comprehensive Australian carbon budget assessment completed to date shows the nation flip-flops from source to sink of carbon emissions, depending on the prevailing conditions.
COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, centre, attends a plenary session at the COP28 UN Climate Summit, Dec. 8, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Al-Jaber is an oil executive whose statements on fossil-fuel phase outs have proved controversial.
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Does the science support the need for a fossil fuel phase out to reach 1.5 C? The answer depends on whether we believe that carbon capture and removal technologies can be deployed safely at scale.
People walk through the COP28 UN Climate Summit on Dec. 6, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Carbon capture and sequestration can play a role in limiting warming but the nuances of its application are far more complicated than just planting trees. Getting it wrong could make warming worse.
Record emissions are fast shrinking the remaining amount of carbon dioxide we can emit if we are to limit global warming. At current rates, we’ll use up the budget for a 1.5°C outcome in seven years.
Geoengineering includes techniques to reflect solar energy.
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Some geoengineering techniques are better understood than others. The US is investing in capturing carbon dioxide from the air, but ideas to block the Sun’s rays are raising big concerns.
The 142 fossil fuel producers collectively exceeded the limits on coal, gas and oil production required to achieve the Paris Agreement goals by between 63% and 70%.
Tourists flock to experience the heat in Death Valley, Calif.
(AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
With tourists flocking in droves to ‘experience’ heat waves, perhaps it’s time for everyone to take a good hard look at their individual contribution to global warming.
Australia wants to allow export of CO₂ for the purpose of “sequestration”, or storage under the sea. Fossil fuel companies, or research organisations, would need to first apply for an export permit.
Power plants contribute a quarter of the United States’ climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
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Fossil fuel power plants can avoid most emissions by capturing carbon dioxide and pumping it underground. But to be a climate solution, that carbon has to stay stored for thousands of years.
Natural gas power plants could find a lifeline in carbon capture and storage.
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Working with underwater robots, scientists show how deep sea mountains and fast currents between Antarctica and South America play a crucial role in stabilizing the climate.
The ocean twilight zone could store vast amounts of carbon captured from the atmosphere, but first we need a 4D monitoring system to ensure ramping up carbon storage does no harm.
Technologies which can capture carbon from power station chimneys or even directly from the air are being developed.
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