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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Carbon capture not the answer to climate change, says UNEP
Source: Agencies |
June 6, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHOPPING down fewer trees and caring for the soil may be cheaper and more effective in fighting climate change than curbing emissions from coal plants, the United Nations Environment Programme said yesterday.
Many energy companies and analysts say the world should invest in technology that traps carbon emissions from burning coal and buries it underground.
But the technology is untested. And according to a UNEP report, there are better natural ways to store carbon.
Trees store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide CO2 as they grow, while soil traps carbon in the organic matter of roots and tiny organisms underground.
"Tens of billions of dollars are being earmarked for carbon capture and storage at power stations, with the CO2 to be buried underground or under the sea," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in the report "The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation."
"The Earth's living systems might be capable of sequestering more than 50 gigatons (billion tons) of carbon over the coming decades with the right market signals," he added.
The world pumped into the atmosphere 8.5 billion tons of carbon from burning fossil fuels in 2007.
Global greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at about 3 percent a year and must start falling within a decade to avoid the worst effects of climate change, scientists said. Recession will only slow annual increases temporarily, said analysts.
Soils store more carbon when animal grazing rates are cut and crops grown less intensively - measures that cost about US$5-10 per ton of avoided CO2 emissions, the report found.
That compares with the cost of trapping greenhouse gases from coal plants of US$20-270 per ton of CO2.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) works by trapping CO2 from the exhaust gases of fossil fuel power plants and then piping it to underground storage sites, such as disused oil wells.
The European Union says it wants 10 to 12 commercial-scale CCS plants by 2015.
Analysts say the extra cost is about US$1 billion per power plant. Countries joining the technology race include the United States, China, Canada and Australia.
Many energy companies and analysts say the world should invest in technology that traps carbon emissions from burning coal and buries it underground.
But the technology is untested. And according to a UNEP report, there are better natural ways to store carbon.
Trees store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide CO2 as they grow, while soil traps carbon in the organic matter of roots and tiny organisms underground.
"Tens of billions of dollars are being earmarked for carbon capture and storage at power stations, with the CO2 to be buried underground or under the sea," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in the report "The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation."
"The Earth's living systems might be capable of sequestering more than 50 gigatons (billion tons) of carbon over the coming decades with the right market signals," he added.
The world pumped into the atmosphere 8.5 billion tons of carbon from burning fossil fuels in 2007.
Global greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at about 3 percent a year and must start falling within a decade to avoid the worst effects of climate change, scientists said. Recession will only slow annual increases temporarily, said analysts.
Soils store more carbon when animal grazing rates are cut and crops grown less intensively - measures that cost about US$5-10 per ton of avoided CO2 emissions, the report found.
That compares with the cost of trapping greenhouse gases from coal plants of US$20-270 per ton of CO2.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) works by trapping CO2 from the exhaust gases of fossil fuel power plants and then piping it to underground storage sites, such as disused oil wells.
The European Union says it wants 10 to 12 commercial-scale CCS plants by 2015.
Analysts say the extra cost is about US$1 billion per power plant. Countries joining the technology race include the United States, China, Canada and Australia.
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