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Reports by Julio Friedmann • September 21, 2020
This report represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece may be subject to further revision. Contributions to SIPA for the benefit of CGEP are general use gifts, which gives the Center discretion in how it allocates these funds. More information is available at https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/about/partners. Rare cases of sponsored projects are clearly indicated.
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Jay Bernstein
Breakthrough Energy LLC
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
The case for rapid and profound decarbonization has never been more obvious or more urgent, and immediate action must match growing global ambition and need. An important new component of this discussion is the necessity of achieving net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions for any climate stabilization target. Until net-zero emissions are achieved, greenhouse gas will accumulate in the atmosphere and oceans, and concentrations will grow, even with deep and profound emissions reduction, mitigation, and adaptation measures. This places a severe constraint on human enterprise: any carbon removed from the earth must be returned to the earth.
To manage this aspect of the global carbon budget, carbon capture and storage (CCS) must play a central role. In particular, CCS will be important in two major roles:
Due to the intense urgency of the climate crisis, global emissions must drop 50 percent by 2030 and reduce a further 50 percent from that level by 2040 to achieve net-zero by midcentury—this is the science-based target of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5oC report and the “well below 2oC” scenario ratified in the Paris Accord. Thus, reducing global emissions rapidly and profoundly, plus gigatonne-scale CO2 removal, are the only ways to achieve these climate goals. The demands of 2030 place additional urgency on laying the foundations for growing deployment of CCS to achieve net-zero global emissions at lowest cost and greatest speed. A set of actions are essential:
By focusing on 2030 targets as a stepping-stone to midcentury net-zero targets, governments can select what actions, investments, and policies can best serve domestic and global needs. Similarly, investments and policies made over the next decade will lay the foundation for continued decarbonization to achieve global net-zero emissions by midcentury.
President Donald Trump has made energy a clear focus for his second term in the White House. Having campaigned on an “America First” platform that highlighted domestic fossil-fuel growth, the reversal of climate policies and clean energy incentives advanced by the Biden administration, and substantial tariffs on key US trading partners, he declared an “energy emergency” on his first day in office.
While he hasn’t released an official plan, Trump’s playbook the last time he was in office and his frequent complaints about clean energy offer clues to what’s ahead.
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Reports by Julio Friedmann • September 21, 2020