Maybe we don’t have to capture so much carbon, study suggests
Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge
New technologies and changes in consumer habits could limit the use of controversial carbon capture to fight climate change, new research shows.
Efforts to capture carbon from polluting sources or to filter CO2 out of the air have picked up steam as a way for companies to meet their climate goals. But those strategies are still unproven at a large scale and could come with other unintended consequences. Some environmental advocates also worry that focusing on cleaning up pollution after the fact could lure companies away from transitioning to renewable energy to prevent emissions in the first place.
To stop climate change and meet the goals of the Paris agreement, planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions need to reach net zero around…
