Most net-zero scenarios include carbon removal as a major component. Simon Göss at cr.hub reviews five major scenarios from the IPCC, IEA, ETC, McKinsey, and the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). He starts by making the very important distinction between carbon capture and negative emissions: capturing carbon from, say, a gas plant does not deliver negative emissions, it just prevents new emissions. This article is about the … [Read more...]
EU: Slow-moving CO2 targets for cars put EV battery boom at risk
Europeâs battery manufacturers are positioning themselves to be global leaders. Their project pipeline will be enough to power a new European car fleet that is 75% battery-electric by 2030. Thatâs 38 European gigafactories by 2030 (fully funded, part-funded and proposed), âŹ39.5 billion worth in investments, creating 44,000 direct factory jobs. But existing CO2 emissions cut targets imposed on car manufacturers â a leading driver of demand for … [Read more...]
What if Carbon Capture fails? Modelling the consequences and solutions
Most policy scenarios being used by governments include carbon capture as a vital tool to reduce emissions. Though itâs far from proven at scale, models assume that between 2030 and 2050 carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will get its act together and deliver on its part in the net-zero puzzle. Assuming that will happen, burning fossil fuels can continue for longer. But Neil Grant and Ajay Gambhir at Imperial College London, writing for Carbon Brief, … [Read more...]
CCS: Identifying the best underground locations for storing CO2 can take 10 years, so letâs start now
Underground geological formations have more space to store CO2 than weâll ever need, by orders of magnitude. But the process of assessing the best locations can take up to ten years, so that work needs to start now, say Raimund Malischek and Samantha McCulloch at the IEA. The main constraints are technical (which porous rock formations absorb CO2 most easily, etc.), while the displacement of land use and public acceptance must also be considered. … [Read more...]
EEMPA solvent and CO2 mineralisation can take us one step closer to our carbon capture goals
If the models are correct that global carbon emissions will keep rising until at least 2040 then carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential. And most of the vast amounts of CO2 we must capture wonât be âutilisedâ as itâs more than we can possibly use. So storage is an essential part of the equation, explains Jim Conca. He scopes out the problem before looking at two innovations that can bring costs down and bring the technology one step closer … [Read more...]
Updated NDCs: World committing to 0.5% emissions cuts by 2030. It should be 45%
The latest national climate pledges, submitted over the new year, show that the world is nowhere near meeting our emissions reductions goals. Analysis of the 48 updated ânationally determined contributionsâ (NDCs) submitted so far (everyone must submit by the end of this year), covering nations responsible for 29% of global emissions, shows we will have 0.5% lower emissions in 2030 compared to 2010. Thatâs way off the target 45% reduction needed. … [Read more...]
How the global âcarbon budgetâ is calculated, and predictions improved
What is the worldâs remaining âcarbon budgetâ? Or, how much more CO2 can the Earth take before we know weâll miss our 1.5oC (and 2oC) goals for 2050. Making those calculations is not easy and IPCC benchmark estimates inevitably include levels of uncertainty in the final answer. Kasia Tokarska at the ETH Zurich Institute and Damon Matthews at Concordia University summarise their research that narrows down that uncertainty, making life a little … [Read more...]
U.S. supports carbon capture R&D and commercialisation
Many are hoping that the new U.S. administration becomes a climate leader. Nowhere is leadership needed more than in the field of carbon capture. Most net zero pathways give it an essential and major role, yet the possible solutions are still in their infancy. Anne Canavati at the Atlantic Council looks at the new bills being passed in Washington that appear to be the beginnings of a serious push to develop and commercialise Carbon Dioxide … [Read more...]
CCUS âgasphilicâ process could double the conversion rate of CO2 into useful fuels
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is proving very expensive. So rather than simply store the CO2 underground itâs better to turn it into something that you can sell. Hence, much work is being directed at turning CO2 into transportation fuels or chemical feedstocks by focussing on the science of reactive materials: the other chemicals in the soup, using different catalysts, and even designing the right nanostructures to maximise the results. MITâs … [Read more...]
A pathway for profitable CCS in California
A study from the energy departments of Stanford University, from where Kara Glenwright writes, lays out a pathway for California to capture and store up to 60 Mt (million tonnes) of CO2 a year. 76 site locations have been identified where work could start immediately to store 20 Mt/yr profitably under the existing low carbon rules. But first a raft of clarifications on the laws is needed, showing that the success of CCS doesnât just depend on the … [Read more...]
How ready is the switchgear industry to abandon SFâ, the worst greenhouse gas?
Are firms in the switchgear industry - power utilities, industrial sites, and related service and infrastructure sectors - happy to switch from using the gas SF6Â and use alternatives that are less harmful to the climate? This is the question Marie-Charlotte Guetlein and Carine Sebi at the Grenoble Ăcole de Management asked over 400 switchgear customers to find out whatâs needed to make the change. SF6 has 23,500 times the impact of CO2Â Â and an … [Read more...]
âElectro-swing cellâ captures CO2 direct from the air
The problem with capturing carbon from a power plant is that the CCS system is itself huge, expensive, consumes a lot of energy, and only works on exhaust streams with high concentrations of CO2. Whatâs more, to meet global CO2 targets, total atmospheric CO2 has to be reduced, not just held at todayâs concentrations by capturing new emissions alone. Writing for MIT, Nancy Stauffer explains how researchers there are piloting an âelectro-swing … [Read more...]
Enhanced Weathering: crushed rocks spread on farmland can capture billions of tons of CO2/year
Enhanced Weathering is a carbon capture process that could remove over 2bn tons of CO2 each year (for comparison, the U.S. emitted 5.3bn in 2018), explains Benjamin Houlton at the University of California. Silicate minerals exposed to the weather have been sequestering atmospheric carbon and turning it into rock since the dawn of time, but itâs a process that normally takes thousands of years. This period can be cut to two years by grinding … [Read more...]
BPâs world energy review: 2019 saw clean electricity match coal
Simon Evans at Carbon Brief summarises BPâs 69th edition of its influential annual statistical review of world energy, looking at 2019. Overall, total energy demand rose, though slower than usual. Renewables were the largest source of new energy, but were closely followed by oil and gas. Coal use dropped again, the fourth drop in six years, thanks to historic declines in the EU and the US. But continued growth in SE Asia, China and India leaves … [Read more...]
Optimising Cyanobacteria for carbon fixation and biofuels
The landscape can be changed for energy transition technologies by research breakthroughs, and that includes work on bacteria and proteins. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its partners have been running experiments on cyanobacteria. These single-cell organisms, also using photosynthesis, fix carbon dioxide twice as efficiently as plants. They grow rapidly, doubling their numbers in three hours. The first step is to understand … [Read more...]
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