Climate changes and extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Fisheries, crops, and livestock may be destroyed or become less productive. With the ocean becoming more acidic, marine resources that feed billions of people are at risk.
More frequent and intense droughts, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans can directly harm animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people’s livelihoods and communities. As climate change worsens, dangerous weather events become more frequent or severe.
The daily atmospheric carbon dioxide from Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the acid test of how the world is succeeding in combatting climate change. Just before the 28th annual United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention meeting opens in oil-rich Dubai, it is a depressing reading.
The atmospheric carbon dioxide has been 422.36 parts per million, 5.06ppm more than the same day in 2022. The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the last 12 months is probably the largest ever recorded – more than double the previous decade’s annual average.
Adding to the perspective, the concentration was nearly 395.64 ppm a decade ago. Read More
In most of Europe, fitting a heat pump is one of people’s most powerful actions to reduce their carbon footprint. But in Norway, where clean-yet-inefficient electrical resistance heaters have long been common, upgrading to a heat pump is often a purely financial decision. Two-thirds of households in the Nordic country of 5 million people have a heat pump, more than anywhere else.
For years, Norwegians and their neighbours heated their homes with fossil fuels. But during the 1973 oil crisis, when prices shot up, the country’s political leaders made a conscious choice to promote alternatives, and, unlike their counterparts elsewhere, they did not back away from that decision once the crisis eased.
Denmark rolled out an extensive district heating system. Norway, Sweden and Finland moved more towards heating with wood or electricity. They began to price carbon in the 1990s, and a mix of grants and taxes tipped the balance further away from oil long after the crisis. Read More
Wildfires in Canada this year burned over 15.3 million hectares (37.8 million acres) of land, nearly ten times more than in 2022 and roughly the size of New York state.
Canada is battling over 1,000 active fires, and nearly two-thirds are out of control. Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record with tens of thousands of people being driven out of their homes and the federal government forced to deploy the military to several regions over the past months. The wildfires burning Kelowna, British Columbia, have lost or damaged nearly 200 homes and structures. Even though smoke continues to blanket the country’s westernmost province, cooler conditions have relieved the region. While Canada experiences fires every summer, this year’s blazes have scorched at least 15.3 million hectares (37.8 million acres) of land, nearly ten times more than in 2022 and roughly the size of New York state. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), 1,036 active fires are burning throughout Canada, with 652 categorised as “out of control”, 161 as “being held”, and 223 considered to be under control. About two-thirds of all active fires are burning in the western province of British Columbia (376) and the Northwest Territories (237). An additional 143 fires are burning in Yukon, 88 in Alberta and 66 in Ontario. According to the CIFFC, 5,881 fires have been recorded nationwide this year, about 1,000 more than last year.
From the beginning, plastic was not designed to be recycled once it became waste. Promoting recycling has mainly responded to increased protests against pollution, predominantly championed by petrochemical industries that want nothing to do with cutting down on production.
As we negotiate for a global #plastictreaty, which could take time due to derailment by oil-producing countries and petrochemical industries, we must continue pushing for local or even regional mechanisms to address the problem of plastic.
A report says that the richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency.
The most comprehensive study of global climate inequality ever undertaken shows that this elite group, made up of 77 million people, including billionaires, millionaires and those paid more than US$140,000 (£112,500) a year, accounted for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019 – enough to cause more than a million excess deaths due to heat, according to the report.
The report further finds that it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon in a year as the richest billionaires. Read More
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) stands as a beacon of hope in our ongoing battle against climate change. This innovative technology aims to reduce and reverse the damage caused by industrial CO2 emissions. By capturing carbon dioxide at its emission source and securely storing it away from the atmosphere, CCS presents a path forward in our quest for a cleaner, more sustainable planet.
The Evolution of Carbon Capture: From Concept to Climate Savior
The Initial Years
The journey of carbon capture technology began in the 1970s, initially as a method to enhance oil recovery. However, its potential in environmental applications soon became apparent. By the late 1990s, as the world awakened to the perils of global warming, CCS emerged as a promising solution.
Important Milestones
1972: The first mention of CCS in a patent filed by the United States Bureau of Mines.
1996: The landmark project at the Sleipner gas field in Norway marked the world’s first commercial CCS operation, capturing about one million tonnes of CO2 annually.
2008: The Mountaineer Power Plant in West Virginia launches a pilot CCS project, a significant step in CCS technology in the power sector.
Why Carbon Capture Matters: The Climate Change Context
The Stark Reality of Emissions
The necessity of carbon capture becomes evident when we examine the alarming statistics around CO2 emissions:
In 2019, global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high of 33.1 gigatonnes (GT), according to the IEA.
The industrial sector alone contributes around 8.0 GT of CO2 annually, highlighting the urgent need for effective carbon management solutions.
The IPCC has underscored the role of CCS in mitigating climate change, projecting that without CCS, the cost of halving global CO2 emissions by 2050 could increase by 138%.
Decoding the Carbon Cycle: Natural Regulation of CO2
The Earth’s Carbon Balance
The carbon cycle, a natural process, plays a critical role in maintaining the Earth’s carbon balance. This cycle involves carbon transfer among the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms.
Human Impact and Disruption
Pre-industrial levels of CO2 were about 280 ppm. As of 2021, this level has skyrocketed to over 410 ppm, the highest in over 800,000 years.
Human activities, notably burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have significantly accelerated the cycle, leading to excessive CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere.
It is, therefore, clear that CCS is not just an option but a necessity in our toolkit against climate change. As we advance, we should focus on optimizing CCS technology, making it more accessible and efficient, and integrating it with other sustainable practices. Embracing CCS is a step towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for our planet.
Welcome to “Capturing Tomorrow: The Carbon Capture Chronicles,” a blog series dedicated to unravelling the complexities, challenges, and triumphs of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology. In this series, I will dive deep into the world of carbon capture, exploring its history, significance, and pivotal role in our collective fight against climate change.
As the planet grapples with escalating CO2 levels and their profound impact on global warming, CCS emerges as a critical tool in our environmental arsenal. From industrial emissions to the intricacies of the natural carbon cycle, this series aims to shed light on how carbon capture technology can mitigate and potentially reverse some of the damage inflicted on our planet.
Join us as I embark on this journey through the world of carbon capture, examining its potential, challenges, and indispensability in our pursuit of a sustainable future. My first article, “Unlocking the Potential of Carbon Capture: A Vital Tool in Our Climate Change Arsenal,” sets the foundation by introducing the basics of CCS, its historical development, and its crucial role in global climate change.
The abundance of climate-heating gases in the atmosphere reached record highs in 2022, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported.
The organization further warned that “there is no end in sight to the rising trend”, which is primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
The concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is now 50% higher than before the start of the Industrial Revolution.
The WMO further explained that the Earth had not experienced similar levels of CO2 for 3-5 million years when the global temperature was 2-3C warmer, and the sea level was 10-20 metres higher than today.
The concentrations of the two other key greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, also grew, and the greenhouse gas (GHG) levels will continue to increase until emissions are cut all the way down to net zero, meaning global heating and the impacts of extreme weather will also continue to grow. Read More
The EU has struck a deal to force the fossil fuel industry to rein in dangerous methane pollution.
Under the proposed law, the first of its kind, coal, oil and gas companies would be required to report their methane emissions and take steps to avoid them. The measures include finding and fixing leaks and limiting wasteful practices such as venting and flaring gas by 2027.
Methane has more than 80 times the global heating power of carbon dioxide over 20 years but does not last as long in the atmosphere. Cutting methane emissions is a cheap and easy way to stop extreme weather from growing more violent in the short term. Read More
