Whatever the outcome of the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in terms of binding agreements to limit greenhouse gas emissions, global public awareness of the issue of climate change is growing.
The ambitious goals announced by some major countries to cut carbon emissions by 2030 suggest that the UN’s target of the globe reaching “zero-carbon” rates within three decades may be achievable.
Carbon-free
Some people conflate the target of zero carbon emissions with the notion that the era of oil, gas, coal, and other fossil fuels is ending. Even though we are experiencing a trend toward generating energy from renewable sources such as the sun and the wind, this is inaccurate.
Oil and gas are still the primary drivers of the global economy, and most economists and experts believe they will continue to be so for decades. For example, Canada invests significantly more in oil and gas extraction projects than in renewable energy.
The goal of zero carbon emissions means that every industry, organization, institution, or country will offset its carbon emissions with what it is doing in terms of carbon capture from the source or the atmosphere and its environmentally sound usage or storage.
Zero emissions do not imply a total elimination of industrial and other uses of emitting materials; instead, it refers to the amount to which such sectors and countries absorb carbon and prevent it from contributing to global warming.
Trading carbon points
The “carbon points” system was introduced at the historic climate summit in Kyoto, Japan, in 2005 to achieve the ratio of equating emissions with absorbing and sequestering emissions.
The climate agreement from that summit gave a number of points to signatory countries based on the volume of their emissions, and governments assigned these points to sectors, enterprises, and factories.
This resulted in the creation of a new market for trading carbon points, in which sectors or countries that have used up their points, i.e., their emissions have exceeded their limits, can purchase points from those that have not used up their points.
This method, which at the time aimed to cut emissions by 2012, aided governments, sectors, and industries in balancing the cost of emissions against the points available to them.
Some have even benefited from carbon trading by creating technology to sequester emissions at their source in factories and other activities, allowing them to sell the carbon points they have accumulated.
New technology horizons
This has led to the development of technologies that are still in their infancy, such as capturing carbon emissions at the source or capturing them from the air and compressing them to pipe or ship for reuse, or even injecting them into the Earth’s layers to enhance fossil-fuel formation sites.
This technology includes what is used at power plants and factories to capture emissions before they are released into the environment and transform them into a form that can be recycled or stored, and what is being developed recently to capture, compress, and recycle carbon from the air.
These technologies open new investment opportunities at a time when established economies are nearing saturation. China, for example, is developing innovative carbon capture and recycling technology to reduce its damaging emissions to the environment. On a smaller scale, Australia does as well.
For reference, Australia is one of the world’s top producers and exporters of coal, and China is one of the few countries that still use coal extensively to generate energy.
According to an International Energy Agency study released in early October, carbon capture and recycling technology has helped remove nearly 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
According to the research, approximately 30 carbon capture, recycling, and storage projects have been started in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia since 2017.
According to the analysis, the quantity of carbon removed will nearly triple to approximately 130 million metric tons after these projects are finished.
Finally, as the global demand for oil continues to rise, nearing 100 million barrels per day, emissions will increase, as will the requirement for carbon capture, recycling, and storage technology. More ventures in this field will be possible because of this opportunity.