“Could solar geoengineering counter global warming? Global warming is probably the biggest threat facing humanity. If all else fails, could climate-controlling technology be the answer?”
“‘The reality is that the forestry industry in Sweden are alone emitting more greenhouse gas emissions than all of Sweden’s terrestrial emission sources combined…’ In this episode Alasdair MacEwen talks to Lina Burnelius of Protect the Forest Sweden about the Swedish forestry model and the threat that industry poses to biodiversity and the survival of ancient Forests.”
“‘There are some reports that say we’re going to need two to three times India’s agricultural land area in order to support the level of BECCS that some of the models are forecasting. That would be catastrophic, that would be catastrophic for the world’s poor…’ In this episode, Alasdair speaks to Dr Dan Quiggin, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House currently researching the implications of using Bioenergy with Capture and Storage or BECCS . He then asks Ember, Chief Operating Officer, Phil MacDonald [NB after 43mins] for his analysis of negative emissions, BECCS and Dr Quiggin’s findings. They reach sobering conclusions about the potential impact of pursuing BECCS to remove carbon from the atmosphere.”
“Washington is once again talking about pricing carbon. The Clean Electricity Payment Program might be dead, but a carbon tax could still be on the table. Or it might not, or perhaps be replaced by expanded loan guarantees for clean energy, or by clean energy tax credits. Whichever form it might take, the politics will be tough. They always are, until they suddenly aren’t.”
“This week on Carbon Removal Newsroom[gt], we’re back with a policy-focused episode with panelists Dr. Holly Jean Buck of the University at Buffalo Chris Barnard of the American Conservation Coalition and host Radhika Moolgavkar of Nori. First up, we’re discussing an essay from Harvard professor David Keith in the New York Times titled, “What’s the Least Bad Way to Cool the Planet?” Keith compares Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and geoengineering, pointing out that the two approaches operate on different timescales— CDR will take decades to build up, and longer still to have a significant impact due to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Solar Radiation Management, a type of geoengineering, could be done with today’s technology and theoretically has an immediate cooling effect. There is a lot we don’t know but his ‘hunch’ is that geoengineering would work more quickly, be cheaper, and benefit the world’s hotter regions more immediately. He calls for governments to fund more research into the topic so the two techniques can be more accurately compared. We debate David Keith’s main points and Holly Buck describes the socio-technical systems that might be necessary to deploy geoengineering and larger-scale CDR most effectively. Next, we’re looking at the Cement Decarbonization legislation passed in California that mandates the state’s cement industry to become net-zero by 2045. According to the Climateworks Foundation’s Rebecca Dell, this is the first time any US state has required an industry to eliminate its net greenhouse gas emissions. Cement production is the second-largest emitter of any industry in California, after only oil and gas production, and it also contributes to significant local air pollution. While the greenhouse gas mitigation from this move is notable, this law also has the potential to provide needed policy support to the carbon removal and carbon utilization industries. We discuss the types of incentives that might be most successful in moving the needle on hard to abate emissions, then end the episode with a good news story of the week from Chris— Japan is restarting several aging nuclear reactors in an attempt to meet its carbon emissions goals.”
“Does the carbon footprint of Direct Air Capture negate its environmental benefits? Balint Simon discusses his paper, “Material flows and Embodied Energy of Direct Air Capture”. This episode was presented by (genuine expert) guest Reviewer 2 Matteo Gazzani, who even seemed to have read the paper! 10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-bpg5d.”
“Can natural ocean processes help us understand how ocean CDR might work? Discussion of “Seeking natural analogs to fast-forward the assessment of marine CO2 removal ” with Lennart Bach and @geoengineering1 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106147118.”
Buck, Holly Jean (2021): Ending Fossil Fuels. Why Net Zero is not Enough. New York, NY: Verso.
“Ending the Fossil Fuel Industry is the only credible path for climate policy. Around the world, countries and companies are setting net-zero carbon emissions targets. But what will it mean if those targets are achieved? One possibility is that fossil fuel companies will continue to produce billions of tons of atmospheric CO2 while relying on a symbiotic industry to scrub the air clean. Focusing on emissions draws our attention away from the real problem: the point of production. The fossil fuel industry must come to an end but will not depart willingly; governments must intervene. By embracing a politics of rural-urban coalitions and platform governance, climate advocates can build the political power needed to nationalize the fossil fuel industry and use its resources to draw carbon out of the atmosphere.”
“The burning question going into the Glasgow climate summit is whether major economies can, by 2050, reduce emissions enough to deliver a carbon neutral world in which humanity no longer adds planet-warming gases to the atmosphere. Less talked about—but rising quickly on the climate agenda—are tools and techniques to pull CO2 straight out of the air. Even scientists sceptical about its feasibility agree that without carbon dioxide removal (CDR)—aka “negative emission”—it will be extremely difficult to meet the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming below two degrees Celsius. ‘We need drastic, radical emissions reductions, and on top of that we need some CDR,’ said Glen Peters, research director at the Centre for International Climate Research.”
“Decarbonisation ambitions: Sultanate’s innovation-driven start-up 44.01 to collaborate with Climeworks of Switzerland in exploring carbon capture utilising geological formations in the Sultanate.”
