Net-zero emission targets by 2050 to cost an additional 30 trillion dollars

Reaching net-zero emission targets by 2050 by developing an over-reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will cost the global economy at least an additional 30 trillion dollars.

Don't leave your news choices to an algorithm - decide for yourself what you read. Add 12punto to your preferred sources!

Net-zero emission targets by 2050 to cost an additional 30 trillion dollars

A new study prepared by the University of Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, the results of which were announced during the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has provided cost estimates for two different paths to net-zero emissions.

POTENTIAL COST CALCULATED

The first of these estimates calculated the cost that would arise if CCS technologies were used to reduce approximately one-tenth of today's emissions, and the second if they were used to reduce approximately half of the emissions.

Accordingly, drawing a roadmap based on CCS technologies instead of focusing on progress in energy efficiency and an electrification-based roadmap to reduce emissions that cause climate change will be extremely economically damaging.

Reaching net-zero emissions by developing an over-reliance on these technologies will create an additional cost of at least 30 trillion dollars by 2050.

While the cost of CCS technologies has shown almost no decline for 40 years, the costs of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and batteries are experiencing major drops, making CCS technologies a more expensive solution and renewable energy technologies a less costly one.

University of Oxford researchers warn that governments that place CCS at the center of their national decarbonization plans face the risk of putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

According to the report, the volume of carbon dioxide captured and stored worldwide has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, reaching 49 million tons annually. However, CCS technology capacity needs to increase by approximately 13 times to reduce one-tenth of emissions, and by 85 times to reduce half of emissions.

Rupert Way, an Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford Smith School, stated in his assessment of the report's findings, "Relying on high levels of CCS as a general solution to facilitate the continued use of fossil fuels will cost society about 1 trillion dollars every year, which is extremely economically damaging."

Stating that CCS technologies will be necessary to a certain extent to reach net-zero emissions, Way noted that the report they prepared suggests that CCS technologies could be used in sectors where reducing emissions is difficult. Way stated that hopes that the cost of CCS will fall similarly to renewable energy technologies like solar power and batteries appear "misplaced."

Richard Black, author of the study and Honorary Research Associate at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, emphasized that governments need to get serious about CCS, noting the following:

"This means three things: scaling up investment, sticking to core use cases, and being very clear that CCS cannot be a general solution. CCS will likely be necessary for some industries and perhaps for negative emissions, but viewing CCS as a way to compensate for ongoing fossil fuel use is economically ignorant. Focusing national and global decarbonization strategies on rapidly scaling up renewable energy sources and almost eliminating fossil fuel use will put us in a better position, and we know that this can be done."

News Source: AA