80 degrees in NYC. Well that ends debate, global warming has officially arrived!
All kidding aside, a recent report from the IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says we have 12 years before we hit “catastrophe”. (Global warming is was already here?). According to the report, if we keep doing things the same way, it will only be 12 years before we see a 1.5 Celsius degree change in the Earth’s climate. That may not sound like much, but that 1.5 degree change could lead to extreme flooding, inclement weather, and food shortages due to inconsistent crop production.
How do we solve this? Simple-carbon based pollution would have to be cut by 45% by 2030, and to “net zero” by 2045.
While reducing carbon/greenhouse gases via alternative/renewable energy sources has been explored for a while, another option is “sucking” CO2 out of they are and storing them in a safe place. This is already in nature, in a process known as terrestrial CO2 sequestration where trees remove CO2 to initiate photosynthesis (3rd grade science anyone?). The process of CO2 capture and storage (CCS for short) is surprisingly being explored by oil companies, who are using CO2 is injected into the ground in enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
Both capturing and storing CO2 are not easy, or cheap processes. Its estimated it costs (on the low end) for CO2 capture and storage is $100/ton. And what the world needs now is Gigatons of CO2 storage. This cost is one of the main reasons we are seeing less than optimal adoption. And there is the storage side of things. “Not in my backyard” Well with all the CO2 atmosphere, soon you may not have a choice.
However, several companies in are coming with clever ways to monetize CO2 storage, including using CO2 as an alternative energy source. There are even companies storing CO2 into concrete. While innovation is occurring, scaling is not. Let’s hope that all that changes before the “doomsday” scenario hits in 2030.
