The future of fossil fuels is at the center of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where many activists, experts and nations are calling for an agreement to phase out the oil, gas and coal responsible for warming the planet. On the other side: energy companies and oil-rich nations with plans to keep drilling well into the future. In the background of those discussions are carbon capture and carbon removal, technologies most, if not all, producers are counting on to meet their pledges to get to net-zero emissions.
Carbon capture and carbon removal are two technologies that are being used to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon capture involves capturing carbon dioxide from industrial facilities such as coal-fired power plants and ethanol plants and transporting it to where it can be permanently stored underground. Carbon removal, on the other hand, involves removing carbon dioxide that is already in the atmosphere. This can be done through restoring forests, or through the use of technology that directly captures carbon dioxide from the air.
Despite the potential of these technologies, skeptics worry that they are being oversold to allow the industry to maintain the status quo. The International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol has said that the industry needs to commit to genuinely helping the world meet its energy needs and climate goals, which means letting go of the illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture are the solution.
Currently, there are about 40 large-scale carbon capture projects in operation around the world capturing roughly 45 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. This is a tiny amount compared to the 36.8 billion metric tons emitted globally as tallied by the Global Carbon Project. The International Energy Agency has said that the history of carbon capture “has largely been one of unmet expectations.”
The American Petroleum Institute has said that oil and gas will remain a critical energy source for decades, meaning that for the world to reduce its carbon emissions, rapidly expanding carbon capture technology is “key to cleaner energy use across the economy.” The Biden administration has also expressed its support for carbon capture and removal, and has allocated billions of dollars to support new projects.
Despite the support for carbon capture, some environmentalists argue that fossil fuel companies are holding up carbon capture to distract from the need to quickly phase out oil, gas and coal. They also note that some projects haven’t met their carbon removal targets, and that carbon capture can serve to prolong the life of a polluting plant that would otherwise shut down sooner.
Ultimately, the future of fossil fuels and carbon capture and removal technologies will depend on the decisions made at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai. It is clear that these technologies have the potential to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but it is also clear that they must be used responsibly and with the right incentives in order to be effective.
