2023-12-12 19:03:35
The forty operational CCS sites around the world only captured a total of 45 million tonnes of CO2 last year. VanderWolf Images / stock.adobe.com
DECRYPTION – The outcome of the international climate conference is partly based on a crucial formulation: “unabated fossil fuels”, in other words fossil fuels without measures to reduce carbon emissions.
« Unabated ». The word was likely to appear in the final declaration of COP28, perhaps even several times. Difficult to translate, this English term – for which there is no consensual definition – was, as expected, at the heart of the discussions during the world climate conference which is ending in Dubai. And at the end of these two weeks of intense negotiations, its ambiguity remains intact.
When we talk about fossil fuels “ unabated “, this means that they are ” without attenuation », that they are not backed by carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies. In other words, the emissions they generate are not counterbalanced by processes allowing, for example, to capture this greenhouse gas and bury it underground (carbon capture and storage technologies, or CCS). ), or reuse it.
Also read COP28: “We still have chances of not exceeding 1.5°C in the 21st century,” explains the president of the IPCC
These techniques have existed for decades, but they remain very expensive and their performance is still in its infancy…
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