Oil and gas industry needs to let go of carbon capture as solution to climate change, IEA says

The oil and gasoline trade must let go of the “phantasm” that carbon seize know-how is an answer to local weather change and make investments extra in clear power, the pinnacle of the Worldwide Power Company stated Thursday.

“The trade must decide to genuinely serving to the world meet its power wants and local weather objectives – which implies letting go of the phantasm that implausibly giant quantities of carbon seize are the answer,” IEA Govt Director Fatih Birol stated in an announcement forward of the United Nations Local weather Change Convention in Dubai subsequent week.

The know-how captures carbon dioxide from industrial operations earlier than emissions enter the ambiance and shops it underground.

Oil and gasoline corporations face a second of reality over their position within the clear power transition, Birol wrote in a an IEA report reviewing the trade’s position in transitioning to an financial system with web zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Simply 1% of worldwide funding in clear power has come from oil and gasoline corporations, based on Birol. The trade must face the “uncomfortable reality” {that a} profitable clear power transition would require scaling again oil and gasoline operations, not increasing them, the IEA chief wrote.

“So whereas all oil and gasoline producers wants to cut back emissions from their very own operations, together with methane leaks and flaring, our name to motion is way wider,” Birol wrote.

The trade would wish to take a position 50% of capital expenditures in clear power initiatives by 2030 to satisfy the objective of limiting local weather change to 1.5 levels Celsius, based on the IEA report. About 2.5% of the trade’s capital spending went towards clear power in 2022.

One of many main pitfalls within the power transition is extreme reliance on carbon seize, based on the report. Carbon seize is crucial for attaining web zero emissions in some sectors, however it shouldn’t be used as a technique to retain the established order, based on the IEA.

An “inconceivable” 32 billion tons of carbon would have to be captured for utilization or storage by 2050 to restrict local weather change to 1.5 levels Celsius below present projections for oil and gasoline consumption, based on the IEA.

The required know-how would require 26,000 terawatt hours of electrical energy to function in 2050, greater than complete international demand in 2022, based on the IEA.

It will additionally require $3.5 trillion in annual funding from immediately by mid-century, which equal to your complete oil and gasoline trade’s annual income lately, based on the report.

U.S. oil main equivalent to Exxon Mobil and Chevron are investing billions in carbon seize know-how and hydrogen, whereas European majors Shell and BP have centered extra on renewables equivalent to photo voltaic and wind.

Exxon and Chevron are additionally doubling down on fossil fuels by mega offers. Exxon is shopping for Pioneer Sources for practically $60 billion, whereas Chevron is buying Hess for $53 billion.