A landmark report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admits that despite the global effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide removal has now become a necessary weapon in the battle against global warming.
According to the report, even under the most aggressive carbon-cutting scenarios, several billion tons of CO2 will need to be extracted each year from the atmosphere by 2050, and an accumulated total of hundreds of billions of tons by 2100.
“Carbon dioxide removal is necessary to achieve net-zero CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions, both globally and nationally,” the report concludes.
The most widely accepted IPCC models for a liveable future reserve an important role for technology called BECCS, or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. This involves growing trees, burning them for energy, and burying the CO2 emitted underground.
Restoring forests and planting trees that absorb and stock CO2 as they grow also figure prominently as a solution but the area required for tree planting schemes would unfortunately compete with food and biofuel needs.
There are other technologies, such as the newly developed chemical process known as direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) that is attracting interest but is yet to be proven for large scale use.
Other CDR methods at various stages of experimentation and development include enhancing the capacity of soil to sequester carbon, conversion of biomass into a charcoal-like substance called biochar, peatland and coastal wetland restoration, and so-called enhanced weathering of rocks rich in minerals that absorb CO2. There are also ocean-based methods being considered, including boosting marine alkalinity and stimulating the growth of phytoplankton.
As carbon dioxide removal gains significance as a weapon in the war against global warming, the Philippines will have to play catch up and see what technologies are feasible and can be applicable in the local setting so we can do our share to help ensure a better future for humanity in this planet. Whether or not our country tries harder to contribute to the global effort to reduce or capture emissions, using whatever resources we have, will depend on the quality of our next set of leaders that we will pick in the upcoming elections.
The future is terribly uncertain, so let’s make the best use of this opportunity to pick leaders who have a plan for our future and have proven that they can deliver.*
