Thinking negatively about negative emissions technologies: the via negativa, carbon thinking, and climate ethics

The Potential of Photoelectrochemical Carbon Sinks

10.26434/chemrxiv.6231140.v2 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthias May ◽

Kira Rehfeld

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

High Temperature ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Large Scale ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Carbon Sink ◽

Solar Fuels ◽

Negative Emissions ◽

Viable Approach ◽

Low Sensitivity

Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut to limit global warming to 1.5-2C above preindustrial levels. Yet the rate of decarbonisation is currently too low to achieve this. Policy-relevant scenarios therefore rely on the permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, none of the envisaged technologies has demonstrated scalability to the decarbonization targets for the year 2050. In this analysis, we show that artificial photosynthesis for CO2 reduction may deliver an efficient large-scale carbon sink. This technology is mainly developed towards solar fuels and its potential for negative emissions has been largely overlooked. With high efficiency and low sensitivity to high temperature and illumination conditions, it could, if developed towards a mature technology, present a viable approach to fill the gap in the negative emissions budget.

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The Potential of Photoelectrochemical Carbon Sinks

10.26434/chemrxiv.6231140 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthias May ◽

Kira Rehfeld

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

High Temperature ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Large Scale ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Carbon Sink ◽

Solar Fuels ◽

Negative Emissions ◽

Viable Approach ◽

Low Sensitivity

Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut to limit global warming to 1.5-2C above preindustrial levels. Yet the rate of decarbonisation is currently too low to achieve this. Policy-relevant scenarios therefore rely on the permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, none of the envisaged technologies has demonstrated scalability to the decarbonization targets for the year 2050. In this analysis, we show that artificial photosynthesis for CO2 reduction may deliver an efficient large-scale carbon sink. This technology is mainly developed towards solar fuels and its potential for negative emissions has been largely overlooked. With high efficiency and low sensitivity to high temperature and illumination conditions, it could, if developed towards a mature technology, present a viable approach to fill the gap in the negative emissions budget.

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Minimising Beccs Resource Use for Negative Emissions

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3365907 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mathilde Fajardy ◽

Niall Mac Dowell

Keyword(s):

Resource Use ◽

Negative Emissions

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Climate Ethics

10.1093/oso/9780195399622.001.0001 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Stephen M. Gardiner ◽

Simon Caney ◽

Dale Jamieson ◽

Henry Shue

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Justice ◽

Environmental Science ◽

Human Dimensions ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

General Reference ◽

Science And Policy ◽

Climate Ethics ◽

Climate Economics ◽

Intergenerational Ethics

This collection gathers a set of seminal papers from the emerging area of ethics and climate change. Topics covered include human rights, international justice, intergenerational ethics, individual responsibility, climate economics, and the ethics of geoengineering. Climate Ethics is intended to serve as a source book for general reference, and for university courses that include a focus on the human dimensions of climate change. It should be of broad interest to all those concerned with global justice, environmental science and policy, and the future of humanity.

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Learning from the Climate Change Debate to Avoid Polarisation on Negative Emissions

Environmental Communication ◽

10.1080/17524032.2019.1630463 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 23-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

R. M. Colvin ◽

Luke Kemp ◽

Anita Talberg ◽

Clare De Castella ◽

C. Downie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Negative Emissions

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1.5 °C degrowth scenarios suggest the need for new mitigation pathways

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-22884-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lorenz T. Keyßer ◽

Manfred Lenzen

Keyword(s):

Technological Change ◽

High Speed ◽

Large Scale ◽

High Energy ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Economic Output ◽

Integrated Assessment Modelling ◽

Negative Emissions ◽

Energy Emissions

Abstract1.5 °C scenarios reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) rely on combinations of controversial negative emissions and unprecedented technological change, while assuming continued growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Thus far, the integrated assessment modelling community and the IPCC have neglected to consider degrowth scenarios, where economic output declines due to stringent climate mitigation. Hence, their potential to avoid reliance on negative emissions and speculative rates of technological change remains unexplored. As a first step to address this gap, this paper compares 1.5 °C degrowth scenarios with IPCC archetype scenarios, using a simplified quantitative representation of the fuel-energy-emissions nexus. Here we find that the degrowth scenarios minimize many key risks for feasibility and sustainability compared to technology-driven pathways, such as the reliance on high energy-GDP decoupling, large-scale carbon dioxide removal and large-scale and high-speed renewable energy transformation. However, substantial challenges remain regarding political feasibility. Nevertheless, degrowth pathways should be thoroughly considered.

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