Fossil fuel companies should be required to solve the carbon dioxide problem generated by their products

Myles Allen, a professor of geosystems science at the University of Oxford along with four other scientists from the US and the Netherlands, have proposed that fossil fuel companies should be required to capture and store the carbon dioxide generated by their products as a condition of being allowed to operate. This idea is outlined in a paper the group of scientists published in the magazine Environmental Research Letters.

Under a so called "carbon take back obligation", fossil fuels extracted or imported into a nation or group of nations would be offset by storing underground an amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to that generated by that fuel. This could help the world store 100% of emissions by 2050. It is better to store carbon dioxide underground, in the geosphere, rather than in the biosphere ( forests and vegetation) which is already under pressure and is needed for food production.

Carbon capture and storage technology is currently expensive, but it is expected to become more affordable in the near future. So, what is stopping this idea from becoming a real life policy? According to Myles Allen: “The technology exists – what has always been lacking is effective policy. The failure has been policy, not technology”.

Source: The Guardian