Carbon capture and storage is controversial – but it will be key

But renewables alone cannot get us to net zero. Sectors such as cement, steel and chemical production produce significant carbon dioxide emissions that are difficult to eliminate through renewable energy alone.

This is why carbon capture, utilization and storage has its place. This technology – invented by the oil and gas industry – is the best solution we currently have to capture these emissions at their source before they can escape into the atmosphere.

Environmentalists have long been skeptical of carbon capture, warning that it could be used to prolong dependence on fossil fuels. That's a matter of politics - the science is clear. For now, we'll have to capture carbon.

Although essential, the uptake of carbon capture is slow. As a new report out today shows, we remove just two billion tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year – and almost all of it is by planting trees. So far, carbon sequestration is less than 0.1 %. (Tianyi Ma, The Conversation, more at phys.org)