Hoping That Sucking CO2 From the Air Will Fix the Climate? Good Luck (easac.eu)

From a study published on Thursday by scientists on the European Academies Science Advisory Council: Senior scientists from across Europe have evaluated the potential contribution of negative emission technologies (NETs) to allow humanity to meet the Paris Agreement's targets of avoiding dangerous climate change. They find that NETs have "limited realistic potential" to halt increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at the scale envisioned in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios. This new report finds that none of the NETs has the potential to deliver carbon removals at the gigaton (Gt) scale and at the rate of deployment envisaged by the IPCC, including reforestation, afforestation, carbon-friendly agriculture, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCs), enhanced weathering, ocean fertilisation, or direct air capture and carbon storage (DACCs).

Comments

Rube Goldberg would be Impressed...

[Anonymous Coward]

...by the Scientific calisthenics required derive a working AGW theory, that hasn't been show to be true by any empirical evidence.

Anytime some authority insist that you give up freedom or money and the best they can do to justify it is to say, "It's complicated and you wouldn't understand, Trust Us", you know that something isn't right.

Re:Complete BS

[bobbied]

Maybe the Wall could consist of thick shrubs that will suck CO2 from the air! Liberals and conservatives will rejoice!

Liberals won't go for ANYTHING, short of capitulation, if the idea is suggested by conservatives right now...

Won't work, we're kinda fucked.

[GameboyRMH]

Unfortunately afforestation was one of the approaches considered and found lacking.

This is extremely bad news. In effect, this is the hypothetical "Surprise! Global warming is much worse than previously thought!" news, just from the prevention side. Gigaton-scale carbon capture was necessary to prevent climate catastrophe and now it looks like it's not an option.

In a sane and responsible world this would be an emergency call to action, to replace all coal plants with the most renewable thing people can afford immediately to avoid the worst possible consequences.

Unfortunately this is a world where the world's now-3rd most powerful country and #2 carbon emitter is led by a reality TV star who thinks global warming is a hoax made up by the Chinese, and who just gutted renewable energy research.