· 2 min read
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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