Carbon capture used extensively at COP28 to push fossil fuel industries

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on Carbon Herald or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: At COP28, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has become a contentious issue, with fossil fuel and high-pollution regions heavily promoting it as a means to delay phasing out fossil fuels
• Over 475 lobbyists for CCS attended, pushing the narrative that CCS is key to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees

🔭 The context: Fossil-fuel-producing countries tend to be more reliant on CCS as a backdoor to continue emitting carbon and removing it from the environment
• Additionally, the effectiveness of CCS at the necessary scale is largely unproven

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The push for CCS at COP28 reflects a broader trend where fossil fuel companies promote it as a "silver bullet" solution to climate change
• This tactic potentially diverts attention and resources from more effective solutions like renewable energy, impacting global efforts to combat climate change

⏭️ What's next: The debate over CCS's viability and role in achieving net-zero emissions continues, with countries divided over its use versus directly reducing fossil fuel reliance

💬 One quote: "We cannot CCS ourselves out of the problem," (Wopke Hoekstra, EU climate commissioner)

📈 One stat: Even under the most ambitious scenarios, CCS is projected to cover only 10% of cumulative emissions reductions between 2022 and 2050 due to its high cost and energy intensity

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