As a gesture of climate justice, what if the world’s developed nations took the lead in hosting locations to store CO2?
This week Denmark inaugurated the world’s first project to import CO2 and buy it almost two kilometers beneath the North Sea.
Led by a British chemical major and a German oil company, it will aim by 2030 to store eight million CO2 tons annually.
What makes this distinct from other carbon capture, sequestration or storage projects is that this one imports from other countries, after being liquified for transport.
However to put this in context, EU member states emitted 3.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2020 alone.
Yes, carbon capture, sequestration, or storage may be preferable to more drastic geoengineering proposals (i.e., blocking out the sun).
However it will still play only a minor role in mitigating climate change compared to the massive, immediate emissions reductions needed from sources and uses, and also risks extending the lifespan of industrial business-as-usual emissions.
To put it in terms of the accompanying MidJourney graphic – the real focus still needs to be on more trees, more turbines, more solar panel modules.
More at Interesting Engineering:
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/denmark-to-import-store-other-countries-captured-co2
