Occidental Petroleum is leading the global push to significantly increase the adoption of carbon dioxide capture technologies. However, the setback in the company’s largest-ever investment underscores the formidable challenges that lie ahead in this endeavor.
Bloomberg Green has investigated the track record of the Oil & Gas industry with artificial #carboncapture technologies and deployment:
Despite decades of investment, the total global carbon capture capacity remains at a mere 45 million tons of CO2 per year, a meager 4% of the amount needed by 2030 to stay on course for #netzero emissions by 2050, as per the International Energy Agency (IEA).
This raises questions about the effectiveness of government intervention, as global #CCS (carbon capture and storage) investment surged, more than doubling since 2021, reaching a record high of $6.4 billion last year.
The allure of policy incentives are impeding the natural #capitalmarkets.
Consider this: the $6.4 billion invested in CCS could potentially be directed toward fortifying coastlines with vital #bluecarbon ecosystems, including new #mangrove forests, #seagrass meadows, and #saltmarshes.
These “big three” marine ecosystems are already available and globally sequester carbon. Protecting and restoring these ecosystems, which account for over 50% of carbon storage in ocean sediments, has the potential to absorb the equivalent of up to 1.4 billion tonnes of emissions annually by 2050. According to research by the World Resources Institute in 2019 https://www.wri.org/insights/turning-tide-ocean-based-solutions-could-close-emission-gap-21
Via Brett Jacobs and Bloomberg
