There's growing momentum behind deploying technology that traps and stores CO2 emissions, but much more investment and stronger policies are needed, the International Energy Agency said in a new report.
Why it matters: The technology is vital to enabling the radical emissions cuts needed through the 2050-2070 timeframe to keep temperature rise in check, the agency said.
- "Without a sharp acceleration in [carbon capture, utilization and storage] innovation and deployment over the next few years, meeting net-zero emissions targets will be all but impossible," the report states.
- It also warns that investment has "fallen well behind that of other clean energy technologies," and accounts for under 0.5% of global investment in climate-friendly energy.
By the numbers: Plans for over 30 commercial facilities have emerged over the last three years, and projects nearing final investment decisions represent an estimated $27 billion worth of investment.
- But the extent of the scale-up ultimately needed must increase by orders of magnitude, IEA said.
- Currently deployed global capture capacity is around 40 million tons of CO2 per year (as the chart above shows).
- In its Paris-aligned "sustainable development scenario," by 2070 10.4 gigatons of CO2 is captured "from across the energy sector."
Go deeper: Global climate goals 'virtually impossible' without carbon capture - IEA (Reuters)
